Charles Holden (12 May 1875 – 1 May 1960) was an English architect best known for designing many London Underground stations during the 1920s and 1930s. Other notable designs were Bristol Central Library, the Underground Electric Railways Company of London's headquarters at 55 Broadway and the University of London's Senate House. Many of his buildings have been granted listed building status, indicating that they are considered to be of architectural or historical interest and protecting them from unapproved alteration. He also designed over 60 war cemeteries and two memorials in Belgium and northern France for the Imperial War Graves Commission from 1920 to 1928.

Holden's early architectural training was in Bolton and Manchester where he worked for architects Everard W. Leeson and Jonathan Simpson before moving to London. After a short period with Arts and Crafts designer Charles Robert Ashbee, he went to work for Henry Percy Adams in 1899. He became Adams' partner in the firm in 1907 and remained with it for the rest of his career.

Buildings

Holden's early buildings were influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement, but for most of his career he championed an unadorned style based on simplified forms and massing that was free of what he considered to be unnecessary decorative detailing. He believed strongly that architectural designs should be dictated by the intended functions of buildings.Holden, quoted in .Holden, Charles (1957). "The Kind of Architecture we want in Britain". Architectural Review. Quoted in . After the First World War he increasingly simplified his style and his designs became pared-down and modernist, influenced by continental European architecture. This list includes all buildings for which Holden was commissioned to produce designs.

Building LocationThese buildings are located in London unless otherwise indicated. Yearcompleted Listed Note 14–15 Old Bond Street Westminster 1911 55 Broadway Westminster 1929 Grade I First cruciform plan office building in Britain; includes St James's Park tube station. Sculptures commissioned by Holden for the building include Jacob Epstein's Day and Night and Henry Moore's first public commission. 87 Harmer Green Lane Welwyn, Hertfordshire 1906 Holden's own home 127 & 129 High Holborn Holborn 1904 Grade II Acton Town Underground station Acton 1932 Grade II Almshouses Woburn, Bedfordshire 1906 Alperton Underground station Alperton 1931 Archway Underground station Archway 1931 Replacement Portland stone and glazed screen entrance façade, since demolished Arnos Grove Underground station Arnos Grove 1932 Grade II* Balham Underground station Balham 1926 Grade II Bedfordshire Cottages, Workhouse site Woburn, Bedfordshire 1901 Belgrave Hospital for Children Kennington 1903 Grade II* Birchmoor Lodge Woburn, Bedfordshire 1901 Bond Street Underground station West End 1927 Replacement Portland stone and glazed screen entrance façade, since demolished Boston Manor Underground station Boston Manor 1934 Grade II With Stanley Heaps Bounds Green Underground station Bounds Green 1932 Grade II With Charles Holloway James Bristol Central Library Bristol 1906 Grade I A Tudor revival exterior with classical interior. Furnishings also by Holden. Bristol Royal Infirmary King Edward VII memorial extension Bristol 1912 British Medical Association Strand 1908 Grade II* Now Zimbabwe House. Jacob Epstein's series of sculptures caused great controversy when unveiled. They were defaced in the 1930s to prevent pieces falling off. British Seamen's Hospital Istanbul, Turkey 1903 Bushey Heath Underground station Bushey, Hertfordshire Unbuilt Cavendish Laboratory, Austin Wing, University of Cambridge Cambridge, Cambridgeshire 1940 Chiswick Park Underground station Chiswick 1932 Grade II Clapham Common Underground station Clapham 1924 Grade II Clapham South Underground station Clapham 1926 Grade II Clifton College Memorial Arch Bristol 1922 Grade II Colliers Wood Underground station Colliers Wood 1926 Grade II Cockfosters Underground station Cockfosters 1933 Grade II Cottages Port Sunlight, Merseyside 1898 Cottage Hospital Woburn, Bedfordshire 1903 Grade II Listed as Henry P. Adams design Crowholt Lodge Woburn, Bedfordshire 1914 Danvers Tower, Cheyne Walk Chelsea Unbuilt design for artists' studios Ealing Common Underground station Ealing 1931 Grade II With Stanley Heaps Eastcote Underground station Eastcote 1939 Grade II East Finchley Underground station East Finchley 1939 Grade II With Leonard Holcombe Bucknell Elstree South Underground station Elstree, Hertfordshire Unbuilt Evelyn House, Oxford Street West End 1909 Grade II Farm Cottages Mayland, Essex 1906 Finchley Central Underground station Finchley With Reginald Uren. Unbuilt. Gants Hill Underground station Gants Hill 1947 The platform level concourse was modelled after stations on the Moscow Metro General Hospital Tunbridge Wells, Kent 1902 Green Park Underground station Piccadilly 1932 New Portland stone entrance shelter adjacent to Green Park, since demolished Grey Gables Bolton, Greater Manchester 1898 Hall of Remembrance (War Museum) London Unbuilt Hammersmith tube station Hammersmith 1931 New Portland stone and glazed screen secondary entrance façade, since demolished Haresfoot Berkhamsted, Buckinghamshire 1920 Additions to existing house Highgate Underground station Highgate 1939 Partly built and partly disused Holborn Underground station Holborn 1933 Replacement Portland stone and glazed screen entrance façade Homeopathic Cottage Hospital Southport, Lancashire 1909 Arts and Crafts hospital building with sea view. Hounslow West Underground station Hounslow 1931 Grade II With Stanley Heaps House Delamere Forest, Cheshire Holden's first project, unknown location House Holford, Somerset 1923 House Knight Bepton Common, Midhurst, West Sussex 1915 House Mayor Bicknoller, Somerset 1928 House Semon Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire 1910 Grade II Now known as Rignalls House Sixsmith Adlington, Lancashire 1907 Grade II Now known as Brown Low Institution of Electrical Engineers Interiors, Savoy Place Westminster 1911 Isle of Thanet District Hospital Margate, Kent 1926 Grade II Now part of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Hospital Isolation Hospital for Infectious Diseases Ampthill, Bedfordshire 1903 King Edward VII Sanatorium Easebourne parish, near Midhurst, West Sussex 1906 Grade II* Chapel separately listed Grade II* Lodge Woburn, Bedfordshire 1908 Lodge, Birchmoor Drive Woburn, Bedfordshire 1914 Kings College for Women Kensington 1916 Grade II Wren-influenced design for college for domestic science Sir James Knott Memorial Flats Tynemouth 1939 With Tasker & Child Law Society extension Holborn 1904 Grade II* Listed with main building by Lewis Vulliamy Leicester Square Underground station West End 1933 New Portland stone entrance building including public house and sub-surface booking hall and concourse London Underground Acton Works and Offices Acton 1932 Manor House Underground station Manor House 1932 Mansion House Underground station City of London 1930 Replacement Portland stone and glazed screen entrance façade, since demolished Memorial Chapel, New College, Oxford Oxford, Oxfordshire Unbuilt Morden Underground station Morden 1926 Mortuary Chapel, Richmond Hospital Richmond 1914 National Library of Wales Aberystwyth, Wales 1937 Grade II* Front range (modified version of earlier design by Sidney Greenslade). Also the Central Hall (completed 1955). Northfields Underground station Northfields 1932 Grade II Oakwood Underground station Oakwood 1932 Grade II* With Charles Holloway James. The free-standing station sign is separately listed Grade II Orchestral Association London 1912 Osterley Underground station Osterley 1934 Grade II With Stanley Heaps Piccadilly Circus Underground station Piccadilly 1928 Grade II Sub-surface booking hall and concourse beneath the roadway of Piccadilly Circus Rayners Lane Underground station Harrow 1938 Grade II With Reginald Uren Redbridge Underground station Redbridge 1947 Grade II Royal Northern Hospital Holloway 1941 Demolished Royal Victoria Infirmary Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear 1906 With W. L. Newcombe Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital Westminster 1926 St George's Hospital, Hyde Park Corner Westminster Unbuilt St Luke's Hospital Valletta, Malta 1939 School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Bloomsbury 1946 Grade II Senate House, University of London Bloomsbury 1937 Grade II* Tallest office building in London from 1937 to 1957. Remnant of a much grander unrealised scheme. Shire Hall extension Bedford, Bedfordshire 1910 Grade II Listed with main building by Alfred Waterhouse Southgate Underground station Southgate 1932 Grade II* Station parade and lamp standards also by Holden separately listed Grade II and Grade II* South Harrow Underground station South Harrow 1935 South Wimbledon Underground station South Wimbledon 1926 Grade II SS Caldedonia, Interiors 1922 Interior design of principal rooms for Anchor Line ocean liner SS Cameronia, Interiors 1922 Interior design of principal rooms for Anchor Line ocean liner SS Tuscania, Interiors 1922 Interior design of principal rooms for Anchor Line ocean liner Sudbury Hill Underground station Sudbury 1931 Grade II Sudbury Town Underground station Sudbury 1931 Grade II* Sutton Valence School Sutton Valence, Kent 1914 Grade II Sutton Valence School, Chapel Sutton Valence, Kent 1928 Tomb of Oscar Wilde, Père Lachaise Cemetery Paris, France 1912 With Jacob Epstein Tooting Bec Underground station Tooting 1926 Grade II Tooting Broadway Underground station Tooting 1926 Grade II Torbay Hospital Torbay, Devon 1927 Torbay Hospital Chapel Torbay, Devon 1929 Grade II Trent Park House Enfield 1926 Grade II New façades to existing mansion Turnpike Lane Underground station Harringay 1932 Grade II Two Cottages Oakley, Bedfordshire 1905 Two Cottages Woburn, Bedfordshire 1907 Uxbridge Underground station Uxbridge 1938 Grade II With Leonard Holcombe Bucknell Victoria Hospital Folkestone, Kent 1910 Ward extensions Wanstead Underground station Wanstead 1947 Warren Street Underground station Euston 1933 Replacement station building West Ham Hospital West Ham 1907 West Kensington Underground station West Kensington 1928 New façade and ticket hall Westminster Female Refuge Westminster 1902 Westminster Hospital, Clapham Common Clapham Unbuilt Westminster Underground station Westminster 1924 Replacement side entrance and ticket hall, since demolished Women's Hospital, Soho Square Soho 1908 Grade II New façades and internal redesign of two existing houses Woodcote Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire 1914 Wood Green Underground station Wood Green 1932 Grade II

Cemeteries

Holden worked on the designs for 69 cemeteries for the dead of the First World War as part of his work for the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC, now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)) between 1918 and 1928. Up until 1920, he worked as senior design architect and his designs are thought to include two of the initial cemetery designs built at Forceville and Louvencourt where Reginald Blomfield was named as the principal architect.The principal architects worked with assistant architects, also called architects in France, who worked from offices in St Omer, and in some cases did most of the design work, with the final design being approved or amended by the principal architect they were working with. In 1920, he became one of the four principal architects for the cemeteries on the Western Front.