Samuel Nathaniel Cooke Jr. (26 June 1882 – 11 April 1964) was an English architect active in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, England in the early to mid 20th century. He was almost invariably credited as S. N. Cooke and his later work was carried out under the auspices of his firm S. N. Cooke and Partners. Works by him and the partnership include significant civic buildings, hospitals, and commercial premises in Birmingham and elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
Early career
![Hall of Memory Birmingham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Hall_of_Memory_Birmingham.jpg)
Cooke was born in Birmingham, England, in 1883.
His early works include the original Birmingham Repertory Theatre (1913), for director
Barry Jackson.
This was the first purpose-built repertory theatre in the UK.
Jackson and Cooke took inspiration from the democratic nature of theatres they had visited in Germany. The design of The Repertory Theatre was particularly influenced by
Max Littmann
Max Littmann (3 January 1862 – 20 September 1931) was a German architect.
Littmann was educated in the Gewerbeakademie Chemnitz and the Technische Hochschule Dresden. In 1885, he moved to Munich where he met Friedrich Thiersch and Gabriel ...
's 1908 ' in Munich.
The Birmingham theatre is still in use, now known as the
Old Rep
The Old Rep (originally Birmingham Repertory Theatre) is the United Kingdom's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, constructed in 1913, located on Station Street in Birmingham, England. The theatre was a permanent home for Barry Jackso ...
.
Cooke also designed the city's civic war memorial, the
Hall of Memory Hall of Memory is a name used for some memorials, including:
* The Hall of Memory, Birmingham, a war memorial in Birmingham, United Kingdom, honoring residents killed in World War I.
* The octagonal chapel at the heart of the Australian War Memori ...
(1922–1925), in collaboration with
W. Norman Twist.
The designs included a Doric
colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
, which was moved to
St. Thomas' Peace Garden in 1995, after the original site was redeveloped as
Centenary Square
Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of Broad Street in Birmingham, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves ...
.
During the 1920s and 1930s, he often worked collaboratively with the Birmingham sculptor,
William Bloye
William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II.
Life
Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...
, for example on the Hall of Memory
and at 7–8 Waterloo Street.
Cooke was also involved in plans for the
aborted Civic Centre on
Broad Street, Birmingham
Broad Street is a major thoroughfare and popular Nightclub, nightspot centre in Birmingham City Centre, Central Birmingham, England. Traditionally, Broad Street was considered to be outside Birmingham City Centre, but as the city centre expanded ...
.
S. N. Cooke and Partners
Later works were attributed to the firm of S. N. Cooke and Partners.
The first tower blocks to be constructed by
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom (e ...
were the four collectively known as the Duddeston Four, the 12-storey High, Queens, Home and South Towers, completed between 1954 and 1955 to a design by S. N. Cooke and Partners.
The partnership was also responsible for significant projects for the
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
. These included the design of extensions to
Selly Oak Hospital
Selly Oak Hospital was situated in the Selly Oak area of Birmingham, England. Previously managed by the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital closed in 2011.
History Origins
The site was originally selected for th ...
in 1963, with at least some of the work being done by
Locksley Hare, a senior partner
The hospital closed in 2012 and demolition is planned.
Birmingham Dental Hospital was designed by
Edward Allen of S. N. Cooke and Partners, in 1965.
Architectural historian Andy Foster has said:
He died in
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in the ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...
, in 1964.
Works
![Old Rep theatre Birmingham](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Old_Rep_theatre_Birmingham.jpg)
Buildings by S. N. Cooke, or S. N. Cooke and Partners, include:
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, S. N.
20th-century English architects
1883 births
1964 deaths
Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands