Revealing the collections: Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
Architecture was the Scott family business, and Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (1880-1960) was no exception. Their father was the architect George Gilbert Scott Jr. (1839-1897), and their grandfather was the prolific Gothic Revival architect, Sir George Gilbert Scott (1811-1878). Despite this, Scott was sent to boarding school in Windsor and grew up with few interactions with their architect father.
Scott trained under Temple Moore, and scooped their first major commission at the age of 22 after entering a design competition for a new Anglican cathedral in Liverpool. Given Scott's youth and inexperience, George Frederick Bodley, one of the competition's assessors, was appointed to work alongside them.
The project got off to a slow start. Bodley was busy with commissions in the US, and they disagreed with Scott on matters of style. When Bodley died in 1907, Scott modified the designs and persuaded the committee to let them radically alter the scheme, incorporating its distinctive central tower.
Construction of the Anglican Cathedral was stalled again by the First World War, but - although still unfinished - it was consecrated in 1924, and Scott was also knighted. The tower was not finished for another 18 years, against the backdrop of the Second World War. When Giles Gilbert Scott died in 1960 the cathedral was still incomplete, and their longtime collaborator Frederick Thomas took on the project. It was not until 1978 that the cathedral was finally finished, albeit a bay shorter than Scott had planned. The cathedral is nevertheless the longest in the world.
While Liverpool Anglican Cathedral was slowly taking shape, Giles Gilbert Scott completed a handful of other church buildings around England, which began to hint at the huge brick volumes they would later become associated with.
Buildings for Cambridge University Library and the Salvation Army soon followed. In 1925 RIBA presented Scott with the Royal Gold Medal, and in 1933 they became the institute's President.
In 1930 Scott became consulting architect for the London Power Company's new power station in Battersea and worked with the in-house engineer Leonard Pearce, to refine the station's huge mass through detailing on the external brickwork and tweaks to the towers so that they resembled classical columns.
In the early 1950s another 'cathedral of power' was in the works. The site proposed for Bankside Power Station (now Tate Modern) had the additional challenge of being located directly across the Thames from St Paul's Cathedral, and concerns were raised about the impact on cherished views of the cathedral's famous dome. Scott won support for the project, prompting the Evening Standard to muse that, in fact, "St Paul's might spoil the view of the Power Station".
Many people living in the UK will have personally encountered Scott's most perennial design: the K2 telephone box (later adapted for subsequent models, with the smaller K6 becoming more widespread outside of London). The phone box's domed form was inspired by Sir John Soane's family mausoleum in St Pancras Old Church Yard.
RIBA Collections contain a wealth of material on Giles Gilbert Scott and the rest of the Scott Family of architects. You can search the collections catalogue, browse digitised images online, or get in touch to find out more.
Cathedral to Cathedral walking tour
Marvel at Liverpool’s two stunning and contrasting cathedrals by taking a stroll through history along Hope Street. Located in the heart of the city’s Georgian quarter, it’s one of Liverpool’s most famous and vibrant thoroughfares, and home to the Philharmonic Hall and RIBA’s Stirling Prize winner, the Everyman Theatre.
Discover a programme of events at RIBA North, including Liverpool walking tours that explore the city's cathedrals and other iconic buildings.
