The rationalist architect of the interwar period, Evan Owen Williams

Tottenham, March 20, 1890-Hemel Hempstead, May 23, 1969 is a British Rationalist-style architect, engineer and designer.

Specialized in reinforced concrete structures, he is one of the main specialists in this type of construction in the interwar period

He studied at the University of London.

1912 he joined the Trussed Concrete Company.

1919 created his own company, Williams Concrete Structures.

1921 he was appointed consultant to the British Empire Exhibition that was held at Wembley between 1924 and 1925, coming into contact with its architects, John Simpson and Maxwell Aryton, with whom he later collaborated on various projects, such as Wembley Stadium (1921-1924) .

One of his first important works was the building of the Daily Express newspaper in London (1929-1930), in collaboration with the architectural studio Ellis & Clarke, while Robert Atkinson is in charge of the Art Deco-style lobby.

It is a building with a reinforced concrete structure and black-tinted glass facades, with a rational distribution of the interior space.

For the same newspaper he built the headquarters of Manchester (1936-1939) and Glasgow (1936-1939), with a similar structure.

Manchester’s Daily Express Building is hailed as one of the best modern buildings of the 1930s in its country.

Another relevant work is the (buts) Boots pharmaceutical factory in Beeston, Nottinghamshire (1930-1932), which stands out for its profuse use of the curtain wall and its tree-shaped concrete columns.

It is followed by the Pioneer Health Center in Peckham (1933-1935), a clinic with a swimming pool of an almost utopian modernity.

His latest works include: the headquarters of the British Overseas Airways Corporation’s maintenance department at Heathrow Airport (1950-1955) and the expansion of the Museum of Fine Arts in Phoenix, Arizona (United States).