Samuel Bridgman Russell (9 August 1864 – 2 August 1955) was a Scottish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

who became chief architect to the Ministry of Health and after the

Tudor Walters Report The Tudor Walters Report on housing was produced by the Tudor Walters Committee of the United Kingdom Parliament in October 1918. Its recommendations set the standards for council house design and location for the next 90 years. The committee Tu ...

and the Housing, Town Planning, &c. Act 1919 designed to a series of model houses, which were copied extensively throughout the United Kingdom in the

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council housing or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011, when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in social housing. D ...

s of the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Born in 1864, Russell had been articled to Henry Hewitt Bridgman 1881–84 and had studied at the Royal Academy Schools from 1882, thereafter becoming a draughtsman in the office of Thomas Chatfield Clarke, who designed the Royal Bank of Scotland building in Bishopsgate, London. He entered partnership with

James Glen Sivewright Gibson James Glen Sivewright Gibson (23 November 1861 – 27 March 1951) was a British architect active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Life and career Gibson was born in Arbroath the son of William Gibson and Elizabeth Sivewright ...

in 1890. The partnership of Gibson and Russell was dissolved in 1899, Russell entering into partnership with Edwin Cooper.

Housing department of the Ministry of Health

Dr Addison appointed a number of architects to draw up designs for model plans for worker cottages (houses). This was the first time that workers cottages had the benefit of professional design. Russell drew up most of the cottage plans. He established "the cardinal principles of good design as the proper dispositions of streets and buildings". The living room should benefit from the sunny aspect, the larder should be in a cool position and the coal store should be easily accessed from both within the building and from outside the house. The rear should be clear of projections that cut off both light and air, and the passageways, stairways and landings free from waste. Local authorities were free to draw up their own designs; but all were compared to those of Russell.

Buildings

He is credited with: * Eastriggs Garden Village, Eastriggs, Dumfriesshire * 1890: London County Council Municipal Lodging House * 1892: St Pancras Municipal Buildings,

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in North London. It was originally a medieval Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the are ...

* 1896: North Bridge,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

* 1897: Town Hall,

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

* 1898: Bromley Hospital,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

, London * 1899: Cartwright Memorial Hall,

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

* 1911–13: Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC),

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, East Sussex * 1913:

Dalziel High School Dalziel High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. Overview James K. Scobbie, Rector from 1957 until 1974, greatly enhanced the school's performance during his tenure. Since then, the school ...

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

* 1916: Garden Village, Gretna

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgman Russell, Samuel Public housing in the United Kingdom 20th-century Scottish architects 1864 births 1955 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects