Reginald Uren
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox architect
|name = Reginald Harold Uren
|image = Crouch end town hall ed.jpg
|caption = Hornsey Town Hall, 1933: Uren's first major commission
|birth_date = {{birth date|1906|3|5|df=y}}
|birth_place = Petone, North Island, New Zealand
|death_date = {{death date and age|1988|2|17|1906|3|5|df=y}}
|death_place = Newmarket, New Zealand
|practice = Slater, Uren and Pike; later Slater and Uren
|significant_buildings = Hornsey Town Hall, Granada Cinema in Woolwich, Sanderson Building
|awards = RIBA London Architecture Medal, 1935 (awarded 1936)
New Zealand Institute of Architects Award of Merit, 1965
|}}
Reginald Harold Uren FRIBA (5 March 1906 – 17 February 1988) was a New Zealand-born architect who worked in the United Kingdom for most of his career.
Life and work
Uren was born in the Belfast area of Christchurch, South Island{{Cite web|date=1906-01-01|title=Uren, Reginald Harold, 1906-1988|url=https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22561762|access-date=2021-07-24|website=Uren, Reginald Harold, 1906-1988 {{!}} Items {{!}} National Library of New Zealand {{!}} National Library of New Zealand|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=NZ architect's legacy seeks facelift {{!}} New Zealand News UK|url=https://www.nznewsuk.co.uk/columns/?id=31523|access-date=2021-07-24|website=www.nznewsuk.co.uk}} on 5 March 1906,{{cite web |title=Uren, Reginald Harold |work=Who Was Who |publisher=A & C Black/Oxford University Press |url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U169963 |date=April 2014 |access-date=31 October 2014}}{{subscription required}} the son of Richard Ellis Uren and Christina Uren.{{cite news |title=Obituary: Mr Reginald Uren – Pioneer architect from New Zealand |work=The Times |date=28 April 1988 |page=16 |issue=63067 |access-date=31 October 2014 |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kccl&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=IF501739505&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0}}{{subscription required}} He qualified as an architect in New Zealand in 1929, before moving to Britain to further his career. Uren worked in the engine room of steamer as a greaser to secure passage to Britain. He married Dorothy Morgan in 1930 and the couple had one daughter.
In Britain, Uren briefly studied architecture at the Bartlett School, University College London and under Charles Holden.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1248457 |desc=Sanderson Hotel (formerly Sanderson House) |accessdate=31 October 2014}} He became an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1931.
In 1933, he won the architectural competition to design Hornsey Town Hall against a field of 281 entries. The town hall was his first major commission in Britain and one of the first large modernist designs constructed in the country, showing influences of Dutch and Swedish architecture of the period.{{cite news |title=Design for Hornsey Town Hall |work=The Times |date=13 October 1933 |page=9 |issue=46574 |access-date=31 October 2014 |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kccl&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS151464269&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0}}{{subscription required}} The design was well received and Uren was awarded the RIBA London Architecture Medal for 1935.{{cite news |title=Hornsey Town Hall – Award of RIBA Bronze Medal |work=The Times |date=12 May 1936 |page=13 |issue=47372 |access-date=31 October 2014 |url=http://find.galegroup.com/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=kccl&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=BasicSearchForm&docId=CS220147372&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0}}{{subscription required}}
File:John Lewis, Oxford Street.jpg|left]]
In 1936, Uren became a partner in the practice of Slater, Moberley & Uren; later Slater, Uren and Pike. The practice specialised in the design of department stores including the Oxford Street store of John Lewis (1955) and the extension of Peter Jones in Sloane Square (1966). He also designed the Arthur Sanderson & Sons Building (1958, now the Sanderson Hotel) in Berners Street.
For the London Passenger Transport Board's 1930s extensions of the Piccadilly and Northern lines, Uren worked with Charles Holden on the design of two new station buildings at Rayners Lane (1938) and Finchley Central (unbuilt).{{cite book |last=Karol |first=Eitan |title=Charles Holden: Architect |publisher=Shaun Tyas |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-900289-81-8 |pages=481–484}} Other public buildings designed by Uren include the Granada Cinema at Woolwich (1937, with Cecil Masey and Theodore Komisarjevsky), St George's Swimming Pools in Shadwell (1965) and Norfolk County Hall (1966).{{cite book |last1=Cherry |first1=Bridget |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |authorlink1=Bridget Cherry |authorlink2=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=London 2: South |series=Pevsner Architectural Guides |publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ufSsUlkWKaYC&pg=PA291 |page=291 |orig-year=1952 |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-300-09651-4}}{{cite book |last1=Cherry |first1=Bridget |last2=O'Brien |first2=Charles |last3=Pevsner |first3=Nikolaus |authorlink1=Bridget Cherry |authorlink3=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=London 5: East |series=Pevsner Architectural Guides |publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EW7k2KA4UkwC&pg=PA482|page=482 |orig-year=1952 |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-300-10701-2 }}{{cite book |last2=Wilson |first2=Bill |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |authorlink1=Nikolaus Pevsner |title=Norfolk 2: North-west and South |series=Pevsner Architectural Guides |publisher=Yale University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qsqx_SK3bzUC&pg=PA167 |page=167 |orig-year=1962 |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-300-09657-6 }}
Uren retired from practice in 1967 and returned to New Zealand where he died in 1988.
Legacy
A number of Uren's commissions are recognised as architecturally significant and are listed for protection against uncontrolled alteration. Hornsey Town Hall, the Sanderson Building and the Granada Cinema in Woolwich are listed Grade II* and Rayners Lane station is listed Grade II.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1212651 |desc=Granada Cinema |accessdate=31 October 2014}}{{National Heritage List for England|num=1263688 |desc=Hornsey Town Hall |accessdate=31 October 2014}}{{National Heritage List for England|num=1261430 |desc=Rayners Lane station |accessdate=31 October 2014}}
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
{{Commons category|Reginald Uren}}
- [http://www.ribapix.com/index.php?a=wordsearch&s=gallery&w=uren&go.x=0&go.y=0 RIBA Photographic Archive, (search results for Reginald Uren)]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Uren, Reginald}}
Category:Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects
Category:History of the London Underground
Category:People associated with transport in London
Category:Transport design in London
Category:20th-century New Zealand architects
Category:People educated at Hutt Valley High School