Peter Womersley

Charles Peter Womersley ARSA FRIBA (24 June 1923 – August 1993) was an English architect, best known for his work in the modernist style. He lived in the Scottish Borders, where a number of his buildings are located, although he worked on projects throughout the United Kingdom. Influenced principally by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and the American Case Study Houses, Womersley's buildings employ such typical modernist elements as in-situ concrete and strong geometric forms; although he introduced a wider palette of materials than was typically used by Le Corbusier and his followers.

Biography Womersley was born on 29 June 1923.

Womersley was originally intending to study law at Cambridge University, but was called up for service in the Second World War. He saw little action, however, and from 1946 to 1951 he studied architecture at the Architectural Association in London. He spent time in Kuwait, where he assisted in the design of a palace for a sheikh.

In 1952 he was admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). His first commission was a house for his brother, John Womersley, at Farnley Tyas near Huddersfield. This house, known as Farnley Hey, won the RIBA bronze medal in 1958, and has been described as "one of the best demonstrations of the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright in Britain." The house is located in woodland, at the edge of a steep valley, and features pale lilac-coloured brickwork, extensive glazing, and timber boarding. Although designed in 1952, construction only began in 1954 after planning rules were changed. Womersley designed an extension in 1956.

Womersley then moved to the Scottish Borders, where he built The Rig, his home and studio in Gattonside near Melrose, in 1957. The modular design has been described as a forerunner to Benjamin's Mount (1967), a house by Ernő Goldfinger. Other healthcare projects included an admissions unit for Haddington District Asylum (1963), now the Garlton Unit of Herdmanflat Hospital, and a GP's practice in Kelso. Collaborating with engineers Ove Arup, he designed a stadium for Gala Fairydean F.C. (1963), incorporating cantilevered structures of board-marked concrete to create the effect of a floating canopy. The same year he was commissioned to design an extension to Edinburgh College of Art, but his highly articulated proposals were rejected. Later designs include the "sculptural" boiler house at the former Melrose District Asylum, and Monklands Leisure Centre in Coatbridge (both 1977).

High Sunderland, the Bernat Klein Studio and Gala Fairydean Stadium are now protected as Category A listed buildings, the highest level of protection for a building in Scotland of "special architectural or historic interest". In addition, The Rig and the Garlton Unit in Haddington were listed at Category B in 2007, and the boiler house in Melrose in 2008. In England, Farnley Hey is listed at Grade II by English Heritage. Womersley was gay, and Klein's daughter speculates the two men's close relationship was, in part, a result of them both being outsiders - Klein being a Serbian emigré. ---- High Sunderland near Selkirk, Scottish Borders 1956–1957 Private house for textile designer Bernat Klein. Category A listed. ---- The Rig Gattonside, Scottish Borders 1956 Womersley's own house and studio, converted into two houses by the architect in 1978. Category B listed. ---- Valley Spring Bath, Somerset 1960s House ---- House Port Murray, Maidens, South Ayrshire Demolished August 2016 1960–1963 Demolished August 2016 ---- Church Square Galashiels, Scottish Borders 1961 ---- Murray and Sanderson offices Galashiels, Scottish Borders 1961 Now occupied by Cameron Associates, architects ---- Fairydean Stadium Galashiels, Scottish Borders 1963 Still in use, Category A listed. ---- North Lodge, Haddington District Asylum Haddington, East Lothian 1963 Now the Garlton Unit, psychiatric admission unit at Herdmanflat Hospital. Category B listed. ---- Nuffield Transplantation Surgery Unit Western General Hospital, Edinburgh 1963 Still in use, extended in 2007 by Aitken Turnbull. ---- University of Hull Sports Centre Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire 1963–1965 Still in use, included on local buildings list by Hull City Council. ---- Edenside Group Practice Surgery & Caretaker's House Kelso, Scottish Borders 1965 Still in use, though altered. ---- Roxburgh County Buildings Newtown St Boswells, Scottish Borders 1966 Roxburgh County Buildings Phase I, following competition of 1961. Now the headquarters of Scottish Borders Council, with recent extensions ---- Bernat Klein Studio, High Sunderland near Selkirk, Scottish Borders 1969 Studio adjacent to High Sunderland house, for textile designer Bernat Klein. Modified . Category A listed. ---- Midland Bank New Street, Huddersfield 1971 Now HSBC ---- Boiler House, Melrose District Asylum near Melrose, Scottish Borders 1977 Consent for conversion to domestic residential use in 2008. Category B listed. ---- Monklands Leisure Centre Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire 1977 Still in use ----