Henry Tanner

Sir Henry Tanner (1849–1935) was a prominent British architect during the late 19th and early 20th century, working for HM Office of Works.

History

Tanner was born in St Pancras, London 1849 to Robert Tanner, a master carpenter and Elizabeth Selby. He attended the Royal Academy before gaining work experience on building sites in Wiltshire and Surrey.

He joined the practice of architect Anthony Salvin, before moving in 1871 to HM Office of Works as a Clerk of District B. In 1872, he married his first wife Lucy Gardner, with whom he had five sons and two daughters, one of whom was the renowned architect Henry Tanner. In 1873, he was promoted from Clerk to First Assistant. and Central Post Office, Nottingham (1894–98). He was also awarded the RIBA Tite prize for Classical Architecture in 1878. His designs were normally French Renaissance in style. In 1898, he took over as the Principal Surveyor of the London Office of Works.

In 1904, Tanner was knighted by King Edward VII, and also chaired a RIBA committee on the use of reinforced concrete, a substance that he used extensively in his last big project the King Edward Post Office Building (1907–10). These long-term institutional trials formulated durable zinc oxide coatings capable of replacing traditional white lead. Works completed after the office of works include the Dickins and Jones department store in Regent Street. His son Henry Tanner was famous for the design of the Park Lane Hotel in London, and the redevelopment of Oxford Circus.