Joseph Lancaster Ball (1852–1933) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

architect. Born to a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

family in Maltby in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

, Ball was articled to the architect William Willmer Pocock in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1877, and moved to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

in 1880 to set up in private practice after winning a competition to design the Handsworth Wesleyan Theological College, now the Hamstead campus of

Birmingham City University , mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business" , established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843—Birmingham College of Art , type = Public , affiliation = ...

. In 1881 he built a range of offices, shops and warehouses at the junction of Cannon Street and Cherry Street in Birmingham whose Queen Anne revival style marked one of the first signs of the new simplicity in Birmingham architecture that would emerge with the Arts and Crafts movement, in reaction against the heavily decorated terracotta style then prevalent. During the early 1880s, he trained Robert England from

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

in New Zealand; England would become a prominent architect in his home town. During the 1890s Ball emerged as one of the leading domestic architects in England and fully absorbed the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement, designing a series of one-off houses that gradually abandoned his earlier classical influences, culminating in the exceptional simplicity of the semi detached pair of houses he built for himself at 17 and 19 Rotton Park Road in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

. In 1899 Ball collaborated with

William Lethaby William Richard Lethaby (18 January 1857 – 17 July 1931) was an English architect and architectural historian whose ideas were highly influential on the late Arts and Crafts and early Modern movements in architecture, and in the fields of co ...

122–124 Colmore Row 122–124 Colmore Row is a Grade I listed building on Colmore Row in Birmingham, England. Built as the Eagle Insurance Offices it was later occupied by Orion Insurance and was Hudson's Coffee House until late 2011, It is currently Java Lounge C ...

in central Birmingham, whose break with revivalism makes it a building of European importance. In 1904 he completed '' Winterbourne House'' in

, his most important individual commission and one of the finest houses of its period in the Birmingham area, comparable to contemporary work by other notable Birmingham Arts and Crafts architects such as

William Bidlake William Henry Bidlake MA, FRIBA (12 May 1861 – 6 April 1938) was a British architect, a leading figure of the Arts and Crafts movement in Birmingham and Director of the School of Architecture at Birmingham School of Art from 1919 until 1924. ...

, Charles Bateman and

Herbert Tudor Buckland Herbert Tudor Buckland (20 November 1869 – 1951) was a British architect, best known for his seminal Arts and Crafts houses (several of which, including his own at Edgbaston, Birmingham, are Grade I listed), the Elan Valley model village, e ...

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Joseph Lancaster 1852 births 1933 deaths Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands People from Maltby, South Yorkshire Arts and Crafts architects