Thomas Bickerstaff Harper "Tom" Ellis was a senior partner in the architectural firm Lyons, Israel and Ellis. The work of Ellis and his partners is noteworthy for both the collection of buildings they designed and for their influence on the group of architects who worked for the partnership. When English Heritagelisted one of their buildings in 2006 they described the Lyons, Israel and Ellis partnership as 'one of the most influential post-war practices specialising in education, public housing and healthcare'. The list of architects who worked for Lyons, Israel and Ellis includes James Stirling, Richard MacCormac, Rick Mather, James Gowan, John Miller, Neave Brown, Eldred Evans, Alan Colquhoun, David Gray and many others. David Gray became a partner in the firm in 1970 and the firm's name was changed to Lyons Israel Ellis Gray.
Early life and education
Thomas Bickerstaff Harper Ellis was born in Lancaster in 1911. After attending Lancaster Technical School he was employed in 1929 as an assistant in the Lancaster office of the gardener and architect Thomas Hayton Mawson. During this period he also studied part-time at Lancaster School of Arts and Crafts where his academic work won him a Royal Exhibition. With the help of this and a Lancashire County scholarship Ellis became a student at the Architectural Association in London. A year later he moved to the Royal College of Art and obtained his final architectural qualification in 1938.
Career
After qualifying Ellis worked in the architectural office of Vincent Harris in London and also taught in evening studio classes in the Regent Street Polytechnic. He volunteered for the army in 1940, rising from private to major. Much of Ellis's early architectural experience was obtained during this wartime period in the Royal Engineers. He was stationed in Cairo where he became Chief Works Design Officer designing hospitals and a variety of other military buildings. After the war, Ellis worked on a number of hospital projects in Newcastle upon Tyne, including the masterplan for the Royal Victoria Infirmary. He also taught architecture at Durham University where his students included Alison and Peter Smithson. In 1947 he was invited to join Edward Lyons and Lawrence Israel in their partnership. Lyons and Israel had been working together since 1932 and Ellis had first met them before the war. Between 1947 and 1984 when the partnership ceased, they designed over 60 buildings, mainly schools. The firm's offices were located in Portland Place London close to the RIBA. They employed 56 associates and assistants over the years, many of whom went on to set up their own practices. In 1963 Ellis was made a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Several of his buildings have now been listed by English Heritage, the first being the Old Vic Theatre Annex.
The work of Tom Ellis and his partners is well catalogued in an Architectural Association publication called Lyons Israel Ellis Gray: Building Projects 1932 -1983.
