Tower 42 looking north from Bishopsgate 2011-05-04

Richard Seifert (born Reubin Seifert; 25 November 1910 – 26 October 2001) was a Swiss-British architect, best known for designing the

Centre Point Centre Point is a building in Central London, comprising a 34-storey tower; a 9-storey block to the east including shops, offices, retail units and maisonettes; and a linking block between the two at first-floor level. It occupies 101–103 ...

tower and

Tower 42 Tower 42, commonly known as the NatWest Tower, is a skyscraper in the City of London. It is the fifth-tallest tower in the City of London, having been overtaken as the tallest in 2010 by the Heron Tower. It is the fifteenth-List of tallest ...

(previously the NatWest Tower), once the tallest building in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. His eponymously named practice – ''R. Seifert and Partners'' (later the ''R. Seifert Company and Partnership'') was at its most prolific in the 1960s and 1970s, responsible for many major office buildings in Central London as well as large

urban regeneration Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of bligh ...

projects in other major British cities.

Biography

Seifert was born to a Swiss family and came to London when young. He attended the

Central Foundation Boys' School ''(By hope, by work, by faith)'' , established = 1865 , closed = , type = Voluntary aided school , religious_affiliation = , president = , head_label = , ...

and subsequently obtained a scholarship to the

Bartlett School of Architecture Bartlett may refer to: Places *Bartlett Bay, Canada, Arctic waterway * Wharerata, New Zealand, also known as Bartletts United States * Bartlett, Illinois ** Bartlett station, a commuter railroad station * Bartlett, Iowa * Bartlett, Kansas * ...

, graduating in 1933. Seifert served 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 head ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Seifert and his company were responsible for more London buildings than Sir

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 church ...

and designed more than 500 office blocks across the UK and Europe.

National Life Stories National Life Stories is an independent charitable trust and limited company (registered as the ‘National Life Story Collection’) based within the British Library Oral History section, whose key focus and expertise is oral history fieldwork. S ...

conducted an oral history interview (C467/05) with Richard Seifert in 1996 for its Architects Lives' collection held by the British Library.National Life Stories, 'Seifert, Richard (1 of 8) National Life Stories Collection: Architects' Lives', The British Library Board, 1996
Retrieved 10 April 2018

List of works

London and suburbs

* 90

Long Acre Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its coach-makers, and la ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

* Barnet House, High Road, Totteridge and Whetstone *

Blackfriars Station Blackfriars, also known as London Blackfriars, is a central London railway station and connected London Underground station in the City of London. It provides Thameslink services: local (from North to South London), and regional (Bedford an ...

, Queen Victoria Street,

(''1977 design, building was redesigned in 2012'') *Beagle House, Tower Hamlets * Britannia Hotel (The Biltmore, Mayfair Hotel),

Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

, New Oxford Street, Camden * Corinthian House, Lansdowne Road,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an exten ...

Drapers Gardens Drapers Gardens is a site in the City of London at the junction of Throgmorton Avenue and Copthall Avenue on land owned by the Drapers' Company. Originally a garden space, it was largely built over by the early twentieth century. It has been the ...

, Throgmorton Avenue, City of London (''demolished'') * Essoldo Paddington Cinema, Great Western Road, Westminster (''demolished'') *

Euston Station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city ra ...

, Eversholt Street, Camden * Goodhart Place, Horseferry Road, Limehouse * Kensington Forum, Kensington * Kings Mall, King Street, Hammersmith 1980 * Kellogg House,

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

, Westminster * Limebank House, Gracechurch Street, City of London (''demolished'') * London Penta Hotel (London Forum Hotel),

Cromwell Road Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwell, who once owned a hous ...

, Kensington and Chelsea * London Metropole Hotel,

Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for 10 miles in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes ...

, Westminster * New

Printing House Square Printing House Square was a London court in the City of London, so called from the former office of the King's Printer which occupied the site. For many years, the office of ''The Times'' stood on the site, until it relocated to Gray's Inn Road ...

Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in the Bloomsbury district of Central London, in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at the City of London boundary, where it bisects High Holborn, and ends at King's Cross and ...

, Camden * New London Bridge House, 5 London Bridge Street,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

(''demolished – site now occupied by The News Building'') * No. 1 Croydon (the NLA Tower), Addiscombe Road, Croydon *

One Kemble Street One Kemble Street and Civil Aviation Authority House (CAA House), originally known jointly as Space House, is an architecturally notable building off Kingsway, London, Kingsway in the London Borough of Camden. It is a grade II listed building wit ...

(Space House), off Kingsway, Camden * 1, 2 & 3 St John's Square, Finsbury (now known as Gate House, 1 St John's Square, Clerkenwell, Islington) * Riverside Baths,

Erith Erith () is an area in south-east London, England, east of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. Since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Bexley. It lies nort ...

, Kent (''demolished'') * Sobell Leisure Centre, Islington (1973) *

South Bank Tower Southbank Tower (formerly South Bank Tower King's Reach Tower until 2013) is a high-rise building in Stamford Street, Southwark, London. It was originally a thirty-storey structure high and was completed in 1972, designed by the architect Ric ...

, Stamford Street,

The Pirate Castle
Oval Road,

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

Tolworth Tower Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, C ...

, Ewell Road,

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wood, ...

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

Bishopsgate Bishopsgate was one of the eastern gates in London's former defensive wall. The gate gave its name to the Bishopsgate Ward of the City of London. The ward is traditionally divided into ''Bishopsgate Within'', inside the line wall, and ''Bisho ...

, City of London *

Wembley Conference Centre Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre in Wembley Park, London, England, that existed from 1977 to 2006, located next to Wembley Arena. History In the later 1970s, modern multi-purpose halls began opening in British towns and cities. ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

* Windsor House, London, Victoria Street

Outside London

* Alpha Tower, Birmingham *

Anderston Centre The Anderston Centre (originally styled as the Anderston Cross Commercial Centre, but now officially branded as Cadogan Square) is a mixed-use commercial and residential complex, and former bus station located in the Anderston area of Glasgow, ...

, Glasgow (partly demolished) *

Concourse House Concourse House was a 1960s high-rise tower block in the city of Liverpool, England, designed by the architect Richard Seifert. The tower was used as a backdrop to the performance art piece La Princesse La Princesse is a 15-metre (50-foot ...

, Liverpool (demolished 2009) * Heron House, Glasgow * Hilton House, Hilton Street, Manchester * Gateway House, Piccadilly Approach, Manchester (1969) * Metropole Hotel, Birmingham *

Sussex Heights Sussex Heights is a residential tower block in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built between 1966 and 1968 on the site of a historic church, it rises to and has 116 flats (including the penthouse). , the ...

, Brighton * Hexagon Tower, Manchester

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seifert, Richard 1910 births 2001 deaths People educated at Central Foundation Boys' School Alumni of The Bartlett 20th-century English architects Architects from London People from Zürich British Army personnel of World War II Royal Engineers officers English Jews Swiss Jews Swiss emigrants to the United Kingdom Brutalist architects Modernist architects from England Skyscraper architects Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom