James Adam (21 July 1732 – 20 October 1794) 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 ...

and furniture designer, but was often overshadowed by his older brother and business partner, Robert Adam. They were sons of architect William Adam.

Life and career

Adam was born in

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011 ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

in 1732 as the third son of the architect William Adam. In 1755 Adam worked on Gunsgreen House in the Berwickshire town of Eyemouth. In 1758, Adam, along with his brother Robert, started his business 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 ...

(living in Lower Grosvenor Street), focusing on designing complete schemes for the decoration and furnishing of houses. Palladian design was popular, but Robert had evolved a new, more flexible signature style incorporating elements of classic

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design alongside influences from Greek,

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and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

styles, often termed as Adam Style in conventional architecture texts. The Adam brothers' success can also be attributed to a desire to design everything down to the smallest detail, ensuring a sense of unity in their designs. He then followed in Robert's footsteps by undertaking the ''

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'', leaving in May 1760 and arriving back in London in October 1763. Adam succeeded Robert as Architect of the King's Works in 1768 just before work on the brothers' Adelphi project (1768–1772) almost bankrupted the firm (the business employed other notable architects including Joseph Bonomi (1739–1808) who, from 1768, remained with the Adams until 1781). From 1771 to 1775, he was engaged with his brother in the design and building of Wedderburn Castle near Duns,

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of th ...

. Adam emerged from his brother's shadow after Robert's death in 1792, designing several notable buildings in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, including the old Infirmary (1792; demolished 1907), Assembly Rooms (1794; demolished in 1890) and the Tron Kirk (1794). He also designed

Portland Place Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the Third Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to BBC Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British ...

in central London. In 1793, he was part of a group of architects that John Soane was asked to supply plans to for the

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. However, he died at his home in London's Albemarle Street in 1794. Adam had a book collection of some significance which he marked with his personal engraved bookplate. During their lifetime Robert and James Adam published two volumes of their designs, ''Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam'' (in 1773–1778 and 1779; a third volume was published posthumously, in 1822).

List of architectural works

Public buildings

*Courts of Justice and Corn Market, Hertfordshire, now

Shire Hall, Hertford The Shire Hall is a municipal building in Fore Street, Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. The building, which currently serves as a Magistrates' Court, is a Grade I listed building. History The building was commissioned to rep ...

(1768). Altered, but partially restored to original design. A joint project with Robert Adam. File:The Shire Hall, Hertford - geograph.org.uk - 142920.jpg, The Shire Hall, Hertford - geograph.org.uk - 142920 File:York Place 5B, Edinburgh.JPG, St George's Episcopal Chapel, York Place, Edinburgh (1794)

Urban domestic work

* Drumsheugh House in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

for the Erskine family (c.1756) * The Adelphi development, London (1768–1775) mostly demolished 1930s, a ceiling & fireplace are in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

* 7 Adam Street File:Adelphi 20130414 161.jpg, The Adelphi, London, largely demolished File:WLA vanda Robert Adam Ceiling roundel with octagon and Apollo and Horae.jpg, Robert Adam ceiling from the Adelphi, now in the V&A File:James Adam (architect) 20130414 156.jpg, 7 Adam Street

Country houses with major work

* Gunsgreen House, Berwickshire (1755) File:Gunsgreen House, Eyemouth.jpg, Gunsgreen House

References