Tower 42 looking north from Bishopsgate 2011-05-04

Richard Seifert (born Reubin Seifert; 25 November 1910 – 26 October 2001) was a Swiss-British architect, best known for designing London's NatWest Tower (now officially named Tower 42), once the tallest building in the United Kingdom, and Centre Point. His eponymously named practice – ''R. Seifert and Partners'' (later the ''R. Seifert Company and Partnership'') was at its most prolific in the 1960s and 1970s, responsible for many major office buildings in Central London as well as large

urban regeneration Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

projects in other major British cities.

Biography

Seifert was born to a Swiss family and came to London when young. He attended the

Central Foundation Boys' School Central Foundation Boys' School is a voluntary aided school, voluntary-aided comprehensive secondary school in the London Borough of Islington. It was founded at a meeting in 1865 and opened the following year in Bath Street, before moving to it ...

and subsequently obtained a scholarship to the Bartlett School of Architecture, graduating in 1933. Seifert served in the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Seifert and his company were responsible for more London buildings than Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren FRS (; – ) was an English architect, astronomer, mathematician and physicist who was one of the most highly acclaimed architects in the history of England. Known for his work in the English Baroque style, he was ac ...

and designed more than 500 office blocks across the UK and Europe.

National Life Stories National Life Stories (NLS) is an independent charitable trust and limited company (registered as the "National Life Story Collection") based within the British Library Oral History section, whose key focus and expertise is oral history fieldwork. ...

conducted an oral history interview (C467/05) with Richard Seifert in 1996 for its Architects Lives' collection held by the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

.National Life Stories, 'Seifert, Richard (1 of 8) National Life Stories Collection: Architects' Lives', The British Library Board, 1996
Retrieved 10 April 2018

List of works

London and suburbs

* 90

Long Acre Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its Coach_(carriage), co ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

* Barnet House, High Road, Totteridge and Whetstone *

Blackfriars Station Blackfriars (), also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford ...

, Queen Victoria Street,

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

(''1977 design, building was redesigned in 2012'') *Beagle House, Tower Hamlets * Britannia Hotel (The Biltmore, Mayfair Hotel),

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square ( ) is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of Westminster, Greater London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was deve ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

* Centre Point, New Oxford Street, Camden * Corinthian House, Lansdowne Road,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

* Drapers Gardens, Throgmorton Avenue, City of London (''demolished'') * Essoldo Paddington Cinema, Great Western Road, Westminster (''demolished'') *

Euston Station Euston railway station ( ; or London Euston) is a major London station group, central London railway terminus and Euston tube station, connected London Underground station managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden. It is the sout ...

, Eversholt Street, Camden * Farryner House, Monument Street, City of London * Goodhart Place, Horseferry Road, Limehouse * Kensington Forum (built as Penta hotel),

Cromwell Road Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4 road (Great Britain), A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwel ...

, Kensington * Kings Mall, King Street, Hammersmith 1980 * Kellogg House,

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder James Baker. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises. The street is ...

, Westminster * Limebank House, Gracechurch Street, City of London (''demolished'') * London Metropole Hotel,

Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes sever ...

, Westminster * New Printing House Square,

Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in Central London, located in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at its junction with Holborn at the City of London boundary, passes north through the Holborn and King's Cross ...

, Camden * New London Bridge House, 5 London Bridge Street,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

(''demolished – site now occupied by The News Building'') * No. 1 Croydon (the NLA Tower), Addiscombe Road, Croydon * One Kemble Street (Space House), off Kingsway, Camden * 1, 2 & 3 St John's Square, Finsbury (now known as Gate House, 1 St John's Square, Clerkenwell, Islington) * Riverside Baths,

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies north ...

, Kent (''demolished'') * Royal Lancaster Hotel, Lancaster Gate, W2. (1967) (Originally intended to be the offices of the Rank Organisation) * Sobell Leisure Centre, Islington (1973) *

South Bank Tower Southbank Tower (formerly South Bank Tower, and the King's Reach Tower until 2013) is a high-rise building on Upper Ground, Southwark, London. It was originally a thirty-storey structure high and was completed in 1972, designed by the architec ...

, Stamford Street,

The Pirate Castle
Oval Road,

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

Tolworth Tower Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Berrylands, Chessington, Epsom, Ewell, Kingston, Long Ditton, New Malden ...

, Ewell Road,

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Berrylands, Chessington, Epsom, Ewell, Kingston upon Thames, Kingston, Lo ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames, colloquially known as Kingston, is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, south-west London, England. It is situated on the River Thames, south-west of Charing Cross. It is an ancient market town, notable as ...

Tower 42 Tower 42, commonly known as the NatWest Tower, is a skyscraper in the City of London. Designed by Richard Seifert and engineered by Pell Frischmann, it opened in 1980 as London's first skyscraper and the tallest building in the United King ...

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate's name is traditionally attributed to Earconwald, who was Bishop of London in the 7th century. It was first built in Roman times and marked the beginning o ...

, City of London * Wembley Conference Centre,

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

* Windsor House, London, Victoria Street * Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington

Outside London

* Alpha Tower, Birmingham * Anderston Centre, Glasgow (partly demolished) * Concourse House, Liverpool (demolished 2009) * Elmbank Gardens, Glasgow (1971) * Heron House, Glasgow * Hilton House, Hilton Street, Manchester * Gateway House, Piccadilly Approach, Manchester (1969) * Metropole Hotel, Birmingham * Sussex Heights, Brighton * Hexagon Tower, Manchester

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seifert, Richard 1910 births 2001 deaths People educated at Central Foundation Boys' School Alumni of the Bartlett 20th-century English architects Architects from London Architects from Zurich British Army personnel of World War II Royal Engineers officers English Jews 20th-century Swiss Jews Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom Brutalist architects Modernist architects from England Skyscraper architects Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom