Quentin Hughes

James Quentin Hughes, (28 February 1920 – 8 May 2004) was an architect and academic. He was a British SAS officer during the Second World War, and was influential in the preservation of Liverpool's Victorian and Edwardian architectural heritage.

Early life

James Quentin Hughes was born in Newsham Park, Liverpool on 28 February 1920. He was educated at Rydal School in Colwyn Bay, Wales, and then began his studies at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture in 1937. The accident left Hughes deaf in one ear and blind in one eye for the remainder of his life.

Post war

Hughes completed his architecture degree at Liverpool in 1946 and then moved to Leeds University to study for a PhD. His thesis on the architectural history of baroque Malta led to the publication of his first book, The Building of Malta 1530-1795 (1956).

He was appointed Senior Lecturer in Architecture at Leeds in 1948 and stayed until 1955 when he became a lecturer at the Liverpool School of Architecture. He was a Lecture and Studio Instructor in Architecture (1955–61), later Senior Lecturer in Architecture (1961–68) and Reader (1968–84) at the University of Liverpool. In 1984 he was made an Honorary Research Fellow of Liverpool University. The Quentin Hughes Collection, a mixture of notes, drawings and photographs, is held in the archives of the University of Liverpool. Photographs attributed to JQ Hughes are also held by the Conway Library, whose archive of primarily architectural images is in the process of being digitised under the wider Courtauld Connects project.

In 1964 Hughes published Seaport: Architecture & Townscape in Liverpool, in which he stressed the significance of the Victorian and Edwardian architectural inheritance of the city. Much of the city centre was saved because of his activities, which in particular helped preserve the Albert Dock Warehouses and the Oriel Chambers. The book was highly influential in starting a national trend opposing the architectural Brutalism of the 1960s. In 1967 he also wrote a detailed policy for the conservation of Liverpool's architecture which was adopted by the City Council.

In 1968, while at Liverpool University, he was seconded to set up the School of Architecture at the University of Malta, becoming the first Professor of Architecture in 1970 but, after 'crossing swords' with the country's president Dom Mintoff, he returned to Liverpool in 1973. and in 2000 was made an Honorary Professor of Architecture by Liverpool John Moores University.

Publications Hughes wrote numerous books including: The Building of Malta 1530–1795 (1956) Seaport: Architecture & Townscape in Liverpool (1964) Fortress: Architecture and Military History in Malta (1969). Military Architecture (1974) Who Cares Who Wins (1998) Malta: The Baroque Island (2003)