In this news item we would like to celebrate the career of one of our longest serving architects, Sebastian Rowe. Sebastian is due to retire at the end of June and will leave behind him a career in architecture that has seen him work on some of the country’s most culturally significant buildings, as well as many locally cherished structures which continue to serve their communities.
Although his career as a practicing architect is coming to an end, his architectural legacy will live on; woven into the fabric of every building he has worked on; and instilled into the memories of the many colleagues, clients and craftspeople that have had the pleasure of working with him throughout the years.
We took the opportunity to ask Sebastian a few questions about his career in architecture.
When and where did you start your career in architecture?
My career effectively started at school, when my Director of Studies took one look at my ‘A’ Level choices (Art, Pure Maths and Applied Maths) and told me that there was not a lot I could do with them – apart from Architecture! I never looked back. My grades secured me a place at the University of Edinburgh, so I went on from there.
My first year of Practice was with the Hill Mawson Partnership in Boston Spa. This was an eye-opener. I was working with the Senior Partner, Peter Hill, on church work. Peter was a well-known and well-established Ecclesiastical Architect in the Ripon Diocese, sitting on the Diocesan Advisory Committee (DAC) with my father. He had set up the Boston Spa Practice with John Mawson a few years before I joined him for that year; Peter continuing his work on churches and John bringing in work on schools e.g. Boston Comprehensive School. Within weeks of joining him, Peter asked me to measure up some Victorian choir benches at St Matthias, Burley Road – probably original to the building [Perkins and Backhouse, 1854] – with a view to re-using the timber for new Sanctuary benches. The DAC approved my design that autumn, and, by Christmas, our usual joiners (G E Isaacs & Sons of Kippax) had built them and they were in use for the Christmas festivities!
During summer holidays, I worked at Jones Stocks, down at Blenheim Terrace in Leeds. I worked with Denis Mason Jones on The Friend’s Meeting House in York, during one summer. I had the somewhat nerve-racking experience of Denis handing me the keys of his car and asking me to drive him over to York to meet ‘the Client’! I built him a model of the development, the remains of which, I believe, may still be in my mother’s loft!
Further down the line, I qualified and was immediately encouraged by Peter Hill to join him in setting up a branch office of the Hill Mawson Partnership in Ripon, where we would have better access to the churches in the northern part of the Diocese of Ripon. He had just won a large commission to ‘restore’ the little church at Hickleton (St Wilfrid), in the Diocese of Sheffield. This church was built on a natural geological fault which had been disturbed by coal working along the Barnsley seam in the 1930s. The National Coal Board was the principal funder of this repair at a cost of over £0.75m, which, in 1982, was considerable. This was the first full project on which I was the Project Architect. It helped to set up the Hill Rowe Partnership.
The Hill Rowe Partnership lasted for twenty three years. Peter and I worked together through to his retirement and I continued as a sole practitioner. My greatest and most enjoyable project in this phase of my professional career was winning a competition to build a new church. I was able to design this building and its fittings to a high degree of detail, an idea that was not considered to be acceptable for my final year design project in Edinburgh. I had a wonderful team as a Client and the result was enjoyed by both the Parish and the town.
Peter encouraged me, early on, to join the Ecclesiastical Architects and Surveyors Association [EASA], an organization made up of fabulous and extremely dedicated church architects and surveyors. Without this Association, I would have floundered, especially as a sole practitioner. Through its amazing members, I have learned so much about all aspects of church work, including the importance of the conservation side of historic buildings.
Was architecture always something you were interested in and what in particular led you to pursue ecclesiastical/conservation architecture?
Architecture is a subject with which I grew up. Our family always went to the North Yorkshire Moors for our summer holidays. We visited the ‘heritage’ of the area: the notable castles and religious houses. Two, particular, were ‘educational’: Byland for ‘sketching’ and Rievaulx for knowledge of architectural terms. I was never very good at Byland, I could never ‘compete’ with my father’s abilities with freehand sketching, but I always enjoyed the quizzes at Rievaulx. The turning point was a visit to Whitby, where I quizzed him on the ‘classical’ architecture of the Banqueting House next to the Abbey. I found out then that there were architectural terms which even he did not know.
My training at these monastic sites became ingrained. The natural progression, therefore, was to active church buildings. I developed a growing appreciation of the work of John Loughborough Pearson, who started building and restoring church buildings in Yorkshire. I remember finding out that one of his most remarkable churches was St Augustine at Kilburn. With great enthusiasm, I encouraged the family up to the little village below the White Horse, only to find the famous Thompson workshop – nothing there that looked remotely like the pictures I had seen of Pearson’s magnificent structure. It was a huge disappointment – for all of us. Of course, the church in question is at the other Kilburn - north of Paddington!
When did you start at PBA and what have been your main roles over the years at the practice?
I joined PBA in April 2006. The Practice had links with both Peter and Denis. The move seemed to fit. I had fifteen years ahead of me which, I thought, should be a good run; I was an established Architect Accredited in Building Conservation, with long standing contacts with English Heritage; I still had important connections with the EASA; and I brought a large portfolio of churches with me. It was natural, therefore, that we should set up an ‘Historic Buildings Team’. I was happy to head this, setting up systems to keep track of Quinquennial Surveys and other ‘historic’ projects. The ‘church portfolio’ grew and soon included Methodist Circuit buildings. I was also approached by Natural England and expanded my horizons to the English Heritage East Midlands Region and into the Diocese of Lincoln.
Do you have any memorable projects you have worked on whilst being at PBA?
The Borghese Gladiator - Whitby Abbey.
One, quite small, project was up at Whitby. We were asked to help English Heritage in the conversion of the Abbey Lodge on the west side of the Abbey and north of the Banqueting House. Part of this was to build a base for a statue which was to be the centrepiece of the restored northern garden of the Banqueting House. There was a statue there, many years ago. Its base had been relocated and built into the western boundary wall of the Abbey precinct, high above garden level. It is still there: an amorphous outline through years of weathering. The base that I designed was based on what I could glean from the weathered moulded stones. It was built and the Borghese Gladiator statue was installed. It is there still. A visit some time later with the family proved to be memorable: English Heritage had photographed the statue and plinth and were selling postcards and keyrings of it. Postcards were sent to family members, far and wide!
Oxygrains Packhorse Bridge - Ripponden
Another project, equally small, was the consolidation of a little packhorse (Jaggerman) bridge in the middle of the moor at Ripponden, below the M62, which was on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register. All that was left was a single segmental arch structure, 9’0” (sorry: 2.74 m) wide, over the small Oxygrains Beck. Restoration sounded simple, but the bridge is in the middle of the South Pennine Moors Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and is also a Scheduled Ancient Monument! Research was undertaken on soft capping, the soil types of the area, what plant mix to use and how to ensure that lime mortar droppings did not fall into [and pollute] the beck. A brilliant local stonemason from Oldham undertook the work. However, such was the climate that the careful seeding on the soft capping took a lot longer to root than I had expected. My joy was complete two years later, when, on one of our fairly regular family trips along the M62, we stopped off to see it. We couldn’t: the grass had grown and completed its new camouflage.
The Great Tithe Barn - Bolton Abbey
The climax of my career has to be the Great Barn project on the Bolton Abbey Estate. This designated Historic Asset [Grade II*] sits on a Scheduled Ancient Monument which is part of the wider created landscape of the 19th Century. Extremely careful handling of all parts of the conversion work resulted in two consecutive evenings of local awards [we claimed five] and a trip to London for a national award [which we also bagged]. For me, the highest accolade was written in the RIBA Yorkshire section of the RIBA Awards booklet that year: “The conservation work on the project is exemplary.”
What will you miss most about your career as an architect?
These have to be two: challenges to repair structures with the best conservation techniques available; and to engineer quarts out of pint pots in providing buildings with improvements that are robust and easy to use. I have always been careful with detail, which, of course, either makes or breaks a project. I have also tried to encompass universal access which should be automatic and natural and is always necessary. Latterly, I have tried to encompass sustainability.
I shall miss chatting to the many talented craftspeople about their work and their pride in it. Working together, we have achieved a great deal. Through these craftspeople I have learned such a lot about building techniques and how to specify repairs. Education continues in those who keep their ears and eyes open and who learn from the people on the tools. I am still learning, I am delighted to say. Some Contractors had challenges from my drawing board; others were resigned to my foibles! I heard that one Contractor, who was given one of my drawings many years ago [which showed how we could actually achieve an accessible loo in a remarkably small space] reacted by saying that this had to be one of my drawings!
Although I shall miss friends and colleagues at PBA and in the EASA and other professional bodies [English Heritage, Natural England and others], I hope to continue to enjoy their gatherings – when and if we are able to travel again. I have been blest with knowing many lovely Churchwardens, Incumbents and other clients. Many, actually, are now on the radar for visits at various ports of call around the country!
What plans do you have for your retirement?
On the architectural front, I have been asked to continue as a Conservation Architectural advisor to the church committees of the Diocese of Leeds. I shall do this as much as I am able, bearing in mind, of course, that the longer I do so, the more out of date my knowledge is likely to become! I shall continue to visit churches and my wife and I have promised ourselves a trip to see the great Cistercian [and, hopefully, Benedictine] houses of France. We have also promised each other a trip to see Gaudi’s work in Barcelona – at some time.
Apart from these thoughts, there is still plenty to do in the house and garden. I hope to continue walking [The Cleveland Way remains high on the itinerary] and, during inclement weather, the model railway calls ever more loudly.
On behalf of the partners and all the staff at Pearce Bottomley Architects we would like to thank Sebastian for his years of dedicated service.
