|
McGrath, Raymond
(b Sydney, 7 March 1903; d Dublin, 23 Dec 1977). British architect and decorative artist of Australian birth. He studied at Sydney University (BArch, 1926). Moving to England in 1926, he gained a research fellowship at Clare College, Cambridge, under the patronage of Mansfield Forbes (1890–1936), a fellow of Clare College, for whom he remodelled Finella (1929), Queens Road, Cambridge, a showcase for the dramatic use of modern materials and a centre for the nascent modern movement in England. He began practice in 1930 as coordinating designer for the interiors of Broadcasting House (1930–33, with Wells Coates and Serge Chermayeff; destr.; see Hanson, p. 62), Portland Place, London. His interior work continued with the Embassy Club (1932, destr.; see Architects’ J., lxxvi, 1932, pp. 490–94) and Fischers Restaurant (1933, destr.; see Hanson, p. 62), New Bond Street, both London, offices and aircraft interiors for Imperial Airways, and exhibition designs. He designed much decorative work for execution on glass, of which the doors at the RIBA (1934), Portland Place, London, are among the few survivors. He also designed furniture, glassware and fabrics. His major built work was the house at St Ann’s Hill (1936), Chertsey, Surrey, a circular house in reinforced concrete, beautifully detailed with built-in furniture, set in a mature landscape redesigned by Christopher Tunnard (1910–79), who occupied the house. Keene House (1938), Carrygate, Galby, Leics, was built of salvaged Tudor bricks and elm boarding with a free plan.
|
