Harry Bell Measures

Redford Cavalry Barracks, Edinburgh

Harry Bell Measures CBE MVO (1862–1940) was an English architect.

Career

He had a varied career. In 1884 to 1892 he was in-house architect for William Willett, producing high-quality housing for the well-heeled in London and South East England; these were normally in the ornate red-brick Queen Anne style that was popular at the time.

He was responsible for a number of English "improved" housing developments for working men, such as the Rowton Houses in London and Birmingham. He designed the original station buildings for the Central London Railway, now the Central line of London Underground, which opened on 30 July 1900.

He was later the Director of Barrack Construction for the British War Office and was responsible for buildings such as Redford Barracks in Edinburgh, and the new cordite incorporating houses at the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills.

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1918 New Year Honours for his efforts during the First World War.^[1]

Houses for Willetts

69 – 79 The Drive, Hove (1888–90)

Other works

Works for Artisans, Labourers & General Dwellings Company on Leigham Court Estate, Streatham.
New College, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (Grade II Listed. Measures was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire [CBE] for his work on barrack design).
Union Jack Club, London (opened in 1907 by King Edward VII who appointed Measures a Member Class I of the Royal Victorian Order [MVO – now LVO] for the work. The building was badly damaged in the Blitz and demolished in 1970).

Central London Railway stations

Measures-designed entrance to Oxford Circus station.

Measures's original 1900 Shepherd's Bush station building (demolished 2008)

Measures was responsible for a number of buildings on the original section of the Central London Railway, many of which survve today as London Underground stations. He favoured terracotta as a building material, constructing his station buildings using prefabrication of factory-made ceramic blocks. This allowed him to design stylistically consistent structures quite econnomically. His tunnel platforms were lined with glazed ceramic tiles. Measures's techniques influenced the work of another contemporary Underground station architect, Leslie Green.^[2] His 1900 design for Oxford Circus station was a single-storey entrance on the corner of Argyll Street and Oxford Street, clad in pale pink terracotta and decorated in a Mannerist style. Today it is considered to be the best surviving example of Measures-designed station architecture and the entrance, and the building above it, is Grade-II listed.^[3]^[4] It should be noted that the red ceramic building on the western corner is by Leslie Green.

Measures designed the following stations on the Central London Railway:

Shepherd's Bush (Central line) – building demolished and rebuilt to a completely different design in 2008.
Holland Park – station building remains in use
Notting Hill Gate – building demolished; new sub-surface station constructed
Queensway – opened as Queens Road. Building remains in use
Lancaster Gate – building demolished and rebuilt to a different design as part of a tower block development
Marble Arch – Oxford Street entrance remains, but unrecognisable as a work by Measures
Bond Street – Oxford Street entrance remains, but unrecognisable as a work by Measures
Oxford Circus – the Grade-II-listed CLR building to the east of Argyll Street is a well-preserved example
Tottenham Court Road – opened as Oxford Street. Not recognisable as a work by Measures when demolished in 2009.
British Museum – station closed in 1933 when new Central line platforms opened at Holborn. Demolished in 1990s.
Chancery Lane – High Holborn station building remains but no longer used for access to station
St Paul's – opened as Post Office. Demolished in 1930s.
Bank – no surface building

Measures also designed the original station building for the railway's Wood Lane station, which opened in 1908 for the Franco-British Exhibition, although this was later modified to a design by Stanley Heaps. The station was closed in 1947 and the building has been demolished.

References

Underground Architecture, D Lawrence, London, Capital Transport, 1994
Modern Housing in Town & Country, James Cornes, London, Batsford, 1905

↑ "No. 30460". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 January 1918. p. 370.
↑ Burman, edited by Peter; Stratton, Michael (1997). Conserving the railway heritage. p. 199. ISBN 9781136745003. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
↑ Historic England. "Oxford Circus Underground Station at the north-east corner of Argyll Street and Oxford Street, including offices above (1400976)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
↑ Mike, Horne. "The Story of a Station — Oxford Circus" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 July 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.

External links

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