Samuel Bridgman Russell (9 August 1864 – 2 August 1955) 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 ...

who became chief architect to the Ministry of Health and after the

Tudor Walters Report The Tudor Walters Report on housing was produced by the Tudor Walters Committee of the United Kingdom Parliament in November 1918. Its recommendation set the standards for council house design and location for the next 90 years. The committee Tudor ...

and the Addison Act 1919 designed to a series of model houses, which were copied extensively throughout the United Kingdom in the

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

s of the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Born in 1864, Russell had been articled to Henry Hewitt Bridgman 1881–84 and had studied at the Royal Academy Schools from 1882, thereafter becoming a draughtsman in the office of Thomas Chatfield Clarke, who designed the Royal Bank of Scotland building in Bishopsgate, London. He entered partnership with

James Glen Sivewright Gibson James Glen Sivewright Gibson (23 November 1861 – 27 March 1951) was a British architect active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Life and career Gibson was born in Arbroath the son of William Gibson and Elizabeth Sivewright ...

in 1890. The partnership of Gibson and Russell was dissolved in 1899, Russell entering into partnership with Edwin Cooper.

Housing department of the Ministry of Health

Dr Addison appointed a number of architects to draw up designs for model plans for worker cottages (houses). This was the first time that workers cottages had the benefit of professional design. Russell drew up most of the cottage plans. He established "the cardinal principles of good design as the proper dispositions of streets and buildings". The living room should benefit from the sunny aspect, the larder should be in a cool position and the coal store should be easily accessed from both within the building and from outside the house. The rear should be clear of projections that cut off both light and air, and the passageways, stairways and landings free from waste. Local authorities were free to draw up their own designs; but all were compared to those of Russell.

Buildings

He is credited with: * Eastriggs Garden Village, Eastriggs, Dumfriesshire * 1890: London County Council Municipal Lodging House * 1892: St Pancras Municipal Buildings,

St Pancras, London St Pancras () is a district in north London. It was originally a medieval ancient parish and subsequently became a metropolitan borough. The metropolitan borough then merged with neighbouring boroughs and the area it covered now forms around ...

* 1896: North Bridge,

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 ...

* 1897: Town Hall,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

* 1898: Bromley Hospital,

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

, London * 1899: Cartwright Memorial Hall,

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

* 1911–13:

Brighton Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College, usually abbreviated to BHASVIC (pronounced "Baz-vic"), is a sixth form college in Brighton and Hove, England for 16- to 19-year-old students. The college is in the Prestonville area of the city. It is ...

(BHASVIC),

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, East Sussex * 1913:

Dalziel High School Dalziel High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, Scotland. The head teacher is Jaclyn Martin. Overview Dalziel High School was founded in 1898. James K. Scobbie, Rector from 1957 until 1974, greatly ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

* 1916: Garden Village, Gretna

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgman Russell, Samuel Public housing in the United Kingdom 20th-century Scottish architects 1864 births 1955 deaths 19th-century Scottish architects