Charles Peter Womersley ARSA FRIBA (24 June 1923 – August 1993) was an English architect, best known for his work in the modernist style. He lived in the Scottish Borders, where a number of his buildings are located (such as the headquarters of Scottish Borders Council), although he worked on projects throughout the United Kingdom. Influenced principally by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the American Case Study Houses, Womersley's buildings employ such typical modernist elements as in-situ concrete and strong geometric forms; although he introduced a wider palette of materials than was typically used by Le Corbusier and his followers.
Biography Womersley was born on 24 June 1923.
Womersley was originally intending to study law at Cambridge University, but was called up for service in the Second World War. He saw little action, however, and from 1946 to 1951 he studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London. He spent time in Kuwait, where he assisted in the design of a palace for a sheikh.
In 1952 he was admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). His first commission was a house for his brother, John Womersley, at Farnley Tyas near Huddersfield. This house, known as Farnley Hey, won the RIBA bronze medal in 1958, and has been described as "one of the best demonstrations of the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright in Britain." The house is located in woodland, at the edge of a steep valley, and features pale lilac-coloured brickwork, extensive glazing, and timber boarding. Although designed in 1952, construction only began in 1954 after planning rules were changed. Womersley designed an extension in 1956.
Womersley then moved to the Scottish Borders, where he built The Rig, his home and studio in Gattonside near Melrose, in 1957. The same year, he worked on a house for the textile artist Bernat Klein near Selkirk. This house, High Sunderland, was also located in dense woodland, within the parks of the 19th-century Sunderland Hall, and was decorated internally with fabrics of Klein's own designs. The modular design has been described as a forerunner to Benjamin's Mount (1967), a house by Ernő Goldfinger. Womersley continued to concentrate on private houses, but obtained relatively few commissions. However, his practice began to take off in 1961 when he won the competition to design the Roxburgh County Offices (now the headquarters of Scottish Borders Council), and also gained a commission for a sports centre at the University of Hull. His practice remained small, with no more than five employees, but Womersley produced a number of notable buildings until the late 1970s.
The Nuffield Transplantation Surgery Unit (1963) at Edinburgh's Western General Hospital was "the first experimental building specifically designed for the transplantation of human organs." Other healthcare projects included an admissions unit for Haddington District Asylum (1963), now the Garlton Unit of Herdmanflat Hospital, and a GP's practice in Kelso. Collaborating with engineers Ove Arup, he designed a stadium for Gala Fairydean F.C. (1963), incorporating cantilevered structures of board-marked concrete to create the effect of a floating canopy. In 1969 he designed a studio for Bernat Klein, adjacent to High Sunderland. Strongly reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, the studio remains Womersley's best-known building, and was nominated as one of Scotland's 100 "Treasured Places" in 2008. The same year he was commissioned to design an extension to Edinburgh College of Art, but his highly articulated proposals were rejected. Later designs include the "sculptural" boiler house at the former Melrose District Asylum, and Monklands Leisure Centre in Coatbridge (both 1977).
High Sunderland, the Bernat Klein Studio and Gala Fairydean Stadium are now protected as Category A listed buildings, the highest level of protection for a building in Scotland of "special architectural or historic interest". In addition, The Rig and the Garlton Unit in Haddington were listed at Category B in 2007, and the boiler house in Melrose in 2008. In England, Farnley Hey is listed at Grade II by English Heritage.
Personal life Womersley was intensely private, rarely giving interviews. His relationship with the Klein family (for whom he designed multiple buildings) was so close that he was designated the legal guardian of Bernat Klein's children. Womersley was gay, and Klein's daughter speculates the two men's close relationship was, in part, a result of them both being outsiders - Klein being a Serbian emigré.
Significant works Name Location Date Notes Coord. Ref.Farnley Heynear Farnley Tyas, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire1952–1955Private house for the architect's brother, extended by the architect 1956. Grade II listed.High Sunderlandnear Selkirk, Scottish Borders1956–1957Private house for textile designer Bernat Klein. Category A listed.The RigGattonside, Scottish Borders1956Womersley's own house and studio, converted into two houses by the architect in 1978. Category B listed.Valley SpringBath, Somerset1960sHouseHousePort Murray, Maidens, South Ayrshire Demolished August 20161960–1963Demolished August 2016Church SquareGalashiels, Scottish Borders1961Murray and Sanderson officesGalashiels, Scottish Borders1961Now occupied by Cameron Associates, architectsFairydean StadiumGalashiels, Scottish Borders1963Still in use, Category A listed.North Lodge, Haddington District AsylumHaddington, East Lothian1963Now the Garlton Unit, psychiatric admission unit at Herdmanflat Hospital. Category B listed.Nuffield Transplantation Surgery UnitWestern General Hospital, Edinburgh1963Still in use, extended in 2007 by Aitken Turnbull.University of Hull Sports CentreKingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire1963–1965Still in use, included on local buildings list by Hull City Council.Edenside Group Practice Surgery & Caretaker's HouseKelso, Scottish Borders1965Still in use, though altered.Roxburgh County BuildingsNewtown St Boswells, Scottish Borders1966Roxburgh County Buildings Phase I, following competition of 1961. Now the headquarters of Scottish Borders Council, with recent extensionsBernat Klein Studio, High Sunderlandnear Selkirk, Scottish Borders1969Studio adjacent to High Sunderland house, for textile designer Bernat Klein. Modified . Category A listed.Midland BankNew Street, Huddersfield1971Now HSBCBoiler House, Melrose District Asylumnear Melrose, Scottish Borders1977Consent for conversion to domestic residential use in 2008. Category B listed.Monklands Leisure CentreCoatbridge, North Lanarkshire1977Still in use
References
External links
Renovation of the Bernat Klein Studio, by Studio DuB Architects