Philip Hardwick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Philip Hardwick (1792-1870) was an eminent English architect (son of architect Thomas Hardwick (junior) (1752-1829), and grandson of Thomas Hardwick Senior (1725-1798)). He is particularly associated with transport-related buildings (eg: railway stations, warehouses) in London and elsewhere.
[edit] Biography
Hardwick was born at 9 Rathbone Place (since demolished) in Westminster London and trained as an architect under his father before entering the Royal Academy Schools in 1808 and then furthering his studies by visiting France and Italy from 1815 to 1819. The Hardwick name is one of the most famous in British architecture, spanning over 150 years of work - in 1760, Thomas Senior became a master mason at Syon House for the brothers Robert and John Adam.
After travelling Europe furthering his architectural studies, Philip Hardwick took over from his father as Surveyor to St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. This post later passed on to Philip's son - Philip Charles Hardwick (meaning that three successive Hardwick generations held the post of Surveyor to St Bartholomew's). Hardwick gained a reputation as a surveyor and was employed by the Westminster Bridge estates, the Portman London estate, Greenwich Hospital, and to Lord Salisbury's estate (1829-1835). In 1839 he was one of the judges for the then new Royal Exchange building in the City of London, and was then appointed to select the design for the Oxford Museum in 1854.
Like Inigo Jones some 200 years earlier, Hardwick was inspired by Italian architecture, following a trip to Italy in 1818-19. These influences manifested themselves particularly in his famous 'Propylaeum' or Doric Euston Arch at the old Euston station (1837), designed for the London and Birmingham Railway at the cost of £35,000; Euston was London's very first train station. The Arch was demolished in the early 1960s to make way for construction of the current Euston Station building. The gates of the arch are stored at the National Railway Museum in York. At the Birmingham terminus, Hardwick also designed Birmingham Curzon Street Station (1838).
His other credits include:
- extensions to Kneller Hall in Twickenham (c.1820)
- Warehouses at St Katharine Docks (main docks scheme designed by Thomas Telford, 1827-1828)
- The Albert Dock traffic office, Liverpool (1846-47)
- Goldsmiths' Hall (1829-35) City of London
- the City of London Club (1833-34) - another building notable for its Italian Palladian style
- Seaford House, Belgravia (1842) (now the Royal College of Defence Studies)
- the Great Hall at Lincoln's Inn and a new addition to the Stone Buildings (1843-45 - assisted by P.C. Hardwick and John Loughborough Pearson at the cost of over £55,000).
- restoration of St Anne's Limehouse (1851-54)
- obelisk memorial to Joseph René Bellot, Greenwich (1855)
He was also surveyor to the Portman London estate, to Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (from 1842) and assisted Sir Francis Smith in designing Wellington Barracks next to Buckingham Palace in 1833. During his lifetime he was fortunate to become a founder member of the Institute of British Architects (1834) - later (1837) the RIBA and was a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In 1854 he received the Royal Gold Medal for architecture. In 1831 his father in law, the architect John Shaw Senior, helped elect Hardwick as a fellow of the Royal Society.
Hardwick's friendship and loyalty to the artist J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851) had been a continuation from his father who had been tutor to Turner. Up until his death Philip had remained a close friend with the artist and in 1851 Turner chose Hardwick as an executor to his will and assistant with his funeral arrangements.
[edit] Pupils and family
Philip married a daughter of the architect John Shaw Sr. (1776-1832) and his brother-in-law was the architect John Shaw Jr (1803-1870). The two families lived close by within the boroughs of Westminster and Holborn and were among the finest architectural families London has ever produced (rivalled by the Charles Barry and Dance dynasties). Both families lay buried at Kensal Green Cemetery. Hardwick's son Philip Charles Hardwick (1822-1892) was the last architect in the family line.
Gothic architect John Loughborough Pearson studied under Philip Hardwick before setting up his own practice in 1843 and designing many notable cathedral buildings, including that at Truro. Thomas Henry Wyatt (1807-1880) and Charles Locke Eastlake (1836-1906) were also pupils. Just as his father, Thomas Hardwick, had trained him, Phil Hardwick trained his only son Philip Charles Hardwick.
