Emanuel Vincent HarrisOBE RA (26 June 1876 – 1 August 1971), often known as E. Vincent Harris, was an English architect who designed several important public buildings in traditional styles.
. . . Vincent Harris . . .
He was born in Devonport, Devon and educated at Kingsbridge Grammar School. He was articled to the Plymouth architect James Harvey in 1893;[1] in 1897 he moved to London, where he assisted E. Keynes Purchase, Leonard Stokes and Sir William Emerson.[1] From 1901 to 1907 he worked for the London County Council before setting up in private practice.
He was primarily a classicist; A. Stuart Gray wrote: “Some of his buildings suggest the influence of Sir Edwin Lutyens, but are bolder, balder, and less subtle or more frank depending on ones point of view.”[1] His work was often criticised by modernist architects. In his acceptance speech when he was awarded the RIBARoyal Gold Medal in 1951[2] Harris is reported to have said: “Look, a lot of you here tonight don’t like what I do and I don’t like what a lot of you do …”.[1]
He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1942. He died in Bath in 1971 and is buried in the village of Chaffcombe, Somerset.
- University of ExeterStreatham Campus: site plan; Washington Singer Building (1931); Mardon Hall (1933); Roborough Library (1938); Mary Harris Memorial Chapel of the Holy Trinity (1958)
- Board of Trade, Whitehall, London (competition 1914)
- Glamorgan County Hall, Cardiff (competition 1908 opened 1912)
- Duke Street art gallery, London (1910–12)
- Sheffield City Hall (competition 1920 opened 1932)
- Nottingham County Hall (competition 1925 construction 1939–1954)
- Atkinsons Building, Old Bond Street, London (1926)
- Braintree Town Hall 1928
- Leeds Civic Hall (competition 1926 built 1931–33)
- Manchester Central Library (competition 1927 built 1930–34)
- Sugworth Hall, Sheffield, (Tower and battlements) c.1930
- Somerset County Hall, Taunton (1932)
- Manchester Town Hall Extension (competition 1927 built 1934–38)
- County Hall, Chelmsford (Council chamber & foyer)
- Bristol Council House (1938–56) (Renamed City Hall in November 2012)[3]
- Ministry of Defence Main Building (1938-1959)
- Fergusson building, St Mary’s College, Durham (1950s)
- Mary Harris Memorial Chapel of the Holy Trinity, University of Exeter (1956–58)
- Kensington Central Library, Kensington, London (1958–60)
. . . Vincent Harris . . .