Doris Morley Cosens (27 April 1894 – 5 October 1945; née Fletcher), often referred to as Dora Cosens, was a British architect, particularly known for her

Modernist Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...

house, 9 Wilberforce Road in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

.Powers, pp. 25, 94–95 Along with Mary Crowley and

Elisabeth Scott Elisabeth Whitworth Scott (20 September 1898 – 19 June 1972) was a British architect who designed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon, England. This was the first important public building in Britain to be designed by a ...

, she was among the earliest women architects to work in Britain during the modern era.

Biography

She was born Doris Morley Fletcher in 1894 in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London, to Arthur Morley Fletcher. She studied architecture at the

School of Architecture This is a list of architecture schools at colleges and universities around the world. An architecture school (also known as a school of architecture or college of architecture), is an institution specializing in architectural education. Africa ...

of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, probably under

George Checkley George Checkley (19 December 1893 – 17 November 1960) was a New Zealand-born architect and academic, who predominantly worked in the UK. He is known for being among the architects to introduce Modernist buildings to the UK, particularly with two o ...

. In 1916, she married the engineer, Charles Richard (Dick) Garrod Cosens (1893–1956). At that date, he was in the

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

; after the First World War, he studied at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

, and later became a lecturer in engineering at the University of Cambridge. During her married life, Cosens lived in Cambridge, latterly at 13 Millington Road. She was in practice as an architect in the town and additionally gave her profession as an art critic. Her reviews of books and exhibitions were published in the ''

Architects' Journal ''Architects' Journal'' is an architectural magazine published in London by Metropolis International. History The first edition was produced in 1895. Originally named ''The Builder's Journal and Architectural Record'', from 1906 to 1910 it was kn ...

''; the architectural scholar

Alan Powers Alan Powers (born 1955) is a British teacher, researcher and writer on twentieth-century architecture and design. Early life Powers was raised on the borders of Hampstead Heath and in Suffolk. His father Michael was an architect member of the A ...

comments that these reveal her to have been "well informed and critical about contemporary developments". Albert Hill describes her as an "energetic advocate of the Modern style". Her career as an architect was limited by two world wars, the demands of married life and her early death. She died unexpectedly in Cambridge on 5 October 1945, aged 52. Her funeral was held at Cambridge Crematorium.

Works

Cosens designed Orchard Lawn, 23 Kings Road (1930). This has a traditional design, being an updated version of a Cambridgeshire cottage with a

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

; it includes an early example of a built-in garage and is designated a building of local interest. Her best-known work is 9 Wilberforce Road (1936–37), built for the zoologist

William Homan Thorpe William Homan Thorpe FRS (1 April 1902 – 7 April 1986) was Professor of Animal Ethology at the University of Cambridge, and a significant British zoologist, ethologist and ornithologist.Alan Costall, ‘Thorpe, William Homan (1902–1986)’ T ...

. One of twelve

-style houses built in Cambridge before the Second World War, it is listed at

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The house is constructed in rendered or whitewashed brick on an atypical, almost-square plan, with two storeys. The flat concrete roof was designed for use as a roof terrace and features a prominent canopy. The main bedroom has a symmetrically placed balcony overlooking the garden, and the arrangement of windows creates interest by changing with the viewpoint. An important factor in the plan for the interior was to house Thorpe's piano. Unusually, the dining room and sitting room are placed at right angles. Powers describes it as an "assured design", noting the influence of Checkley's earlier houses on Conduit Head Road. The architectural historians Simon Bradley and

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

call it "rather heavily done". The estate agent Albert Hill includes it in a 2006 list of the ten best modern houses in Britain, describing it as having a "rigidly linear box-like appearance". The house was covered in the ''Architects' Journal'' in 1939. Cosens at least drew up plans for alterations and extension to 13 Millington Road in 1936, for King's College. She was responsible for a small extension in 1944 to Willow House, a grade-II*-listed Modernist house on Conduit Head Road by Checkley (1932).Bradley, Pevsner, pp. 341–42Powers, p. 72–73, 94

References

Sources *Simon Bradley,

. ''Cambridgeshire'' (''

The Buildings of England ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' series) (Yale University Press; 2014) *Cambridge City Council (May 2011)
West Cambridge Conservation Area Appraisal
(accessed 24 October 2022) *

. ''Modern: The Modern Movement in Britain'' (Merrell; 2005)

External links

Cambridge 2000: Dora CosensRIBA: 9 Wilberforce Road
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