Sir Evan Owen Williams
b. London, 1890;
d. London, 1969.

Sir Evan Owen Williams, a famous British architect / structural engineer who produced outstanding reinforced concrete buildings during the inter-war period. He was educated at Tottenham Grammar School and studied engineering at London University. From 1905-11 he was articled to the Electrical Tramways Co., London and in 1912 was appointed engineer/designer for the Trussed Concrete Company (later Truscon). In 1919 he commenced his own consultancy. He was appointed chief consulting civil engineer to the British Empire Exhibition, Wembley in 1923 working with Maxwell Ayrton. He was knighted for his services. Williams began work on his celebrated “Wets” Building for the Boots Company - and the layout of their new factory at Beeston, Nottingham ? in 1929, completing it in 1932. He was also involved in work on the Pioneer Health Centre at Peckham, London and as the design engineer on three buildings for the Daily Express Newspaper Co. in London, Glasgow and Manchester (in conjunction with architects Ellis and Clarke). These buildings were seen as essentially “functional” structures but were sheathed with external decorative curved black glass walls developed by Williams, emphasizing their modern appearance. In the postwar years he turned his attention to developing the first plan for Britain’s motorway system and the M1 in particular (opened 1959).

Major buildings / works:
Palace of Industry” and other buildings, British Empire Exhibition, Wembley, 1923-5. Boots Factory buildings at Beeston, Nottingham, 1929-32, 1937-8.
Daily Express Buildings: Fleet St., London, 1932, Glasgow, 1937 and Manchester, 1939. Pioneer Health Centre, Peckham, London, 1934.
Design projects for Ministry of Transport and Ml Motorway London-Birmingham, 1945-59; BOAC Hangar, London Airport, 1950-54.
Daily Mirror Building, London (with Anderson, Forster and Wilcox), 1959.

Bibliography:
Owen Williams, The Philosophy of Masonry Arches, London, 1927.
David Cottam, Sir Owen Williams 1890- 1969, London, 1987.