Chamberlin, Powell and Bon was a British firm of architects active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having designed the

Barbican Estate The Barbican Estate, or Barbican, is a residential complex of around 2,000 flats, Apartment#Maisonette, maisonettes and houses in central London, England, within the City of London. It is in an area once devastated by World War II bombings an ...

in central

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the campus extension of the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Formation

The practice was founded in 1952 by

Geoffry Powell Chamberlin, Powell and Bon was a British firm of architects active during the 1950s and 1960s. They are best known for having designed the Barbican Estate in central London and the campus extension of the University of Leeds. Formation The p ...

(1920–1999), Peter "Joe" Chamberlin (1919–1978) and Christoph Bon (1921–1999), following Powell's win in the 1951 architectural competition for the

Golden Lane Estate The Golden Lane Estate is a 1950s council housing complex in the City of London. It was built on the northern edge of the City, on a site devastated by bombing during the Second World War. Since 1997, the estate has been protected by a grade II ...

. The three founding partners taught at Kingston Polytechnic (now

Kingston University Kingston University London is a Public university, public research university located within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, in South London, South West London, England. Its roots go back to the Kingston Technical Institute, founded ...

School of Architecture) when they each entered the design competition with the agreement that should any of them win they would form a partnership with the other two to deliver the project. The Golden Lane Estate is sometimes referred to as the apprentice piece of the practice and is important for its planned landscape which 'straddles the boundary between the picturesque and the formal'. Charles Greenberg became an additional partner of the practice in 1960, although he chose not to add his name to the partnership for personal reasons. He was the only other partner working with CP&B on the Barbican estate. Frank Woods also became an additional partner, and in 1985 the firm's name became Chamberlin Powell Bon & Woods. The firm continued to 1989. Its archives are held at the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

Main work

Following construction of their

design, they won the commission to design and execute the adjacent

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

development, also for the Corporation of the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. (The Corporation is the wealthy municipal administration that has responsibility for the historic core of London, today its central financial district.) The Barbican was such a large job they set up a sub-practice to deal with it: Chamberlin Powell and Bon (Barbican) Ltd. The firm was strongly influenced by the work and ideas of Swiss/French architect

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

, with the essence of the innovative design being encapsulated by the project architect Leopold Rubinstein who trained with Le Corbusier in Paris. It is a measure of the importance of the practice in postwar British architecture that many of their works are now

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

List of works

, Aldersgate, London EC1 1952–1961 (Listed Grade II & Grade II*) *Milton Court Coroner's Court,

weighbridge A truck scale (US), weighbridge (non-US) or railroad scale is a large set of Weighing scale, scales, usually mounted permanently on a concrete foundation, that is used to weigh entire Railroad car#Freight cars, rail or road vehicles and their co ...

, flats, offices and

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

for the City of London, designed 1959, demolished amid controversy, 2008. *

and

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

for the Arts, London EC2 (Listed G II) *Vanbrugh Park Estate, Blackheath, London SE3, completed 1963 * Roundshaw Estate, Wallington, Surrey, 1965, completed 1967. Original estate demolished in 2010. *Two Saints (later Geoffrey Chaucer) School, Harper Road, London SE1 (Listed II* but substantially demolished by

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 ...

borough council in 2007 for the creation of Globe Academy) *Development at 355 Kings Road for ILEA *Bousfield Primary School, The Boltons, Earls Court, London SW5 1954–56 (Listed GII) *

, campus expansion masterplan and many individual buildings (1963–75), the largest collection of buildings by the firm after the Barbican. (Listed G II & G II*) *

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

(1966) *

Murray Edwards College, Cambridge Murray Edwards College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1954 as New Hall and renamed in 2008. The name honours a gift of £30 million by alumna Ros Edwards and her husband Steve, and the firs ...

(Formerly New Hall, Cambridge).

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

a new college for an ancient university (1962–64, Listed G II*). *30a Hendon Avenue,

Finchley Finchley () is a large district of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. north of Charing Cross, nearby districts include: Golders Green, Muswell Hill, Friern Barnet, Whetstone, London, Whetstone, Mill Hill and Hendon. It is ...

, London N3, the only private house designed by the practice (Listed G II) *Of the unrealised works the Zoology Tower for

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, a highly figured point block which would have been visible all over Oxford. *Of the demolished buildings the more significant are a Cooper Taber Seed Factory,

Witham Witham () is a town and civil parish in the Braintree district, in the county of Essex, England. In the 2011 census, it had a population of 25,353. It is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands on the Roman road between the ...

, Essex, and the Shipley Salt Grammar School,

Shipley, West Yorkshire Shipley is a historic market town and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Located on the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Shipley is directly north of the city of Bradford. The population of Shipley at ...

. *Cheltenham Grammar School,

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

(1965). These buildings were demolished in 1996 (partially owing to the disintegration of the concrete in the 1980s) and replaced on the site by a new campus for what is now

Pate's Grammar School Pate's Grammar School is a grammar school with academy status in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It caters for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school was founded with a fund bestowed to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, by Richard Pate in 1574 ...

Gallery

EC Stoner - infinity.jpg, EC Stoner Building Henry Price, Leeds.jpg, Henry Price Building Henry Price - cantilever.jpg, Cantilever of Henry Price Building

References

External links

Chamberlin, Powell & Bon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chamberlin, Powell And Bon Architecture firms of England Design companies established in 1952 Barbican Estate 1952 establishments in England Defunct companies based in London Design companies disestablished in 1989 1989 disestablishments in England