St Sarkis Armenian Church, Iverna Gardens - geograph

Arthur Joseph Davis (21 May 1878,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

– 22 July 1951, Kensington, London) was an English architect. Davis studied at the

École des Beaux-Arts École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth century ...

, Paris in the 1890s. He was the co-partner in the firm ''Mewes & Davis'', with

Charles Mewès Charles-Frédéric Mewès (30 January 1858 - 9 August 1914) was a French architect and designer. Biography Born in Strasbourg, Alsace in 1858, Charles Frédéric Mewès grew up a Parisian after his family fled the Prussian invasion and annexat ...

. The firm designed the elevations and interior decoration of the London Ritz Hotel which introduced modern French comfort and luxury enabled by an innovative steel frame construction. In addition, the partnership took on numerous private commissions including

Luton Hoo Luton Hoo is an English country house and Estate (land), estate near Luton in Bedfordshire and Harpenden in Hertfordshire. Most of the estate lies within the civil parish of Hyde, Bedfordshire. The Old English language, Saxon word wikt:hoo#Etym ...

for Sir

Julius Wernher Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet (9 April 1850 – 21 May 1912) was a German-born Randlord and art collector who became part of the English establishment. Life history Born in Darmstadt, Hesse, Wernher was the son of Elisabeth (Weidenbu ...

, Coombe Court for Countess De Grey and

Polesden Lacey Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate, located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties. This Regency house was exp ...

for the Hon Mrs Ronald Greville. Prior to World War I, Davis worked on a number of

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

s such as the '' Aquitania'' (1911–14); and after his military service he designed a number of banks in London. His last major commission was the '' Queen Mary'' (1935). In 1949 he gave his recreations as

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

and

water-colour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

sketching.

Notable buildings

St Sarkis, Kensington St Sarkis ( hy, Սուրբ Սարգիս եկեղեցի) is an Armenian Apostolic church and a Grade II* listed building in Iverna Gardens, Kensington, London. It was constructed in 1922–23 by Calouste Gulbenkian as a memorial to his parents, ...

(1922–23), Grade II* listed

References

External links

Profile on Royal Academy of Arts Collections
1878 births 1951 deaths Architects from London British alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts Royal Academicians {{England-architect-stub