[ r i b a m s s - b u i l d i n g t y p e s ]

building types

The Archive can be used to research particular genres of building, in terms of general concepts, principles and requirements, or in terms of the diversity of approaches and styles. Architects may record their own views on the appropriate principles of design and construction for certain building types and the papers of architectural historians may also prove useful in order to place a building within the more general context of the building type.

Building types represented in the Archive include schools; churches & cathedrals; country houses; private houses; office buildings; hospitals; recreational buildings; underground stations; exhibition buildings; monuments & memorials, and many others. Records on the subject of building types include essays, lecture notes and drafts for articles and books by architects ranging from C.R. Cockerell to Erno Goldfinger.

The Archive includes a series of essays written for various RIBA Research Awards, or awarded RIBA prizes, and these are a useful source for this subject area. The titles range from essays on gothic or classical architecture to essays on farm buildings, schools and hospitals, both in Britain and abroad. Other essays, such as those written for the Architectural Society, may also be on building types, such as an essay by Joshua Brandon (1822-1847) entitled 'Remarks on the most appropriate style for church architecture in England', read in 1846. Lecture notes may also be relevant, such as the Royal Academy lectures by Thomas Sandby (1721-1798) and George Wightwick (1802-1872), which relate to architectural styles, country and town houses and British cathedrals and churches.

Page from a letter by Sir George Gilbert Scott to the Revd. E. Boyce, 31 December 1841

Architects may seek to explain or justify their approaches to building design in personal notes and letters. The above letter by Sir George Gilbert Scott was written in reaction to crisicism by the Cambridge Camden Society of his early church designs. He explains the background to his designs and admits that he made several errors through lack of experience.

The Archive may include documents concerning new concepts in design, and the underground stations, designed by Charles Holden in the 1930's, are a particularly good example of this. The archive includes an extensive press cuttings collection detailing almost all of his stations, which provides a means to trace the development of his style through the eyes of the media and the public.