The Victorian Era

Who Designed the Houses of Parliament?

Article · Architecture & Design · The Victorian Era, 1837–1901

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The Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster, are the meeting place of the two chambers of the British Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and one of the most famous buildings in the world. The original medieval palace was largely destroyed by fire on the evening of 16 October 1834, and the new building was designed by Charles Barry in the Perpendicular Gothic style, with the interior designed by A. W. N. Pugin in the same style. The new building was constructed between 1840 and 1870, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest Gothic Revival building in the world. The history of the building is examined in Famous Victorian Buildings and Landmarks, and the broader context is set out in Victorian Architecture and Interior Design.

The Great Fire of 1834

The original Palace of Westminster had been a royal palace since the eleventh century, and it had been the meeting place of Parliament since the thirteenth. The palace had been added to, altered, repaired, and extended many times over the centuries, and by the early nineteenth century it was a rambling, overcrowded, insanitary, and dangerous complex. The palace was largely destroyed by fire on the evening of 16 October 1834, when a fire started in the Exchequer’s Office, where the old wooden tally sticks of the Exchequer were being burned. The fire spread rapidly, and within a few hours it had destroyed most of the medieval palace, including the Painted Chamber, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, the Court of Requests, the Court of Chancery, the Star Chamber, the Court of King’s Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, the Court of Exchequer, the Privy Council Chamber, the Prince’s Chamber, the Royal Gallery, the Robing Room, the Throne Room, the Chapel of St Stephen, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the long sequence of offices, chambers, and residences that had grown up around them.

Three parts of the medieval palace survived the fire and remain standing today. Westminster Hall, the great timber-roofed hall of 1393–1401, was saved by Sir Charles Barry, the new architect of the palace, who threw a firebreak across the south end of the hall and doused the roof with water. The Jewel Tower of 1365, which stands across the road from the palace, survived because the fire did not reach it. The Chapter House of 1245, which stands in the garden of the palace, also survived. These three medieval buildings, together with the new palace, form the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Architectural Competition

The destruction of the old palace and the old Parliament created an opportunity for a new building, and the Government held a long architectural competition for the design. The competition was announced in 1835, and 97 designs were submitted, of which 17 were shortlisted. The judges were the architect Sir John Soane, the Earl of Pembroke, the Earl of Burlington, the architect James Porden, the surveyor William Donthorne, and the politician Charles Lushington. The judges were unanimous in recommending Charles Barry’s design, and the design was approved by the Government later that year. The design was in a Perpendicular Gothic style, in deference to the surviving Westminster Hall and the surviving medieval palace of St Stephen’s across the road, and it was prepared in collaboration with A. W. N. Pugin, who would be responsible for the interior. Barry was appointed architect of the new palace in 1836.

Charles Barry

Charles Barry (1795–1860) was the architect of the new Houses of Parliament. Born in Westminster, the son of a stationer, Barry trained as an architect under Middleton and then under C. R. Cockerell and John Soane. He travelled widely in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Palestine, and Syria, and he was deeply impressed by the architecture of the ancient world, the architecture of the medieval world, the architecture of the Renaissance, and the architecture of the modern world. He had designed a number of important buildings before the Houses of Parliament, including the Travellers Club (1831–32), the Reform Club (1837–41), the Royal Institution (1838), the Athenaeum (1839–40), Highclere Castle (1838–43), Trentham Hall (1834–48), and Cliveden.

Barry was a versatile architect, equally at home in the Classical, the Gothic, the Italianate, the Renaissance, the Baroque, the Rococo, and the Modern styles. He was a master of the architectural competition, and he won a succession of important commissions during his career, including the Houses of Parliament, the Travellers Club, the Reform Club, the Athenaeum, and the Royal Institution. He was appointed to the office of First Commissioner of His Majesty’s Woods and Forests in 1845, and he was created a baronet in 1852. He died in 1860, and he was buried in Westminster Abbey.

A. W. N. Pugin

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812–1852) was the interior architect of the new Houses of Parliament, and the great theorist of the Gothic Revival. Born in London, the son of Augustus Charles Pugin, the architect, Pugin trained as an architect in his father’s office and then in the offices of John Nash and Robert Smirke. He had designed a number of important buildings before the Houses of Parliament, including the church of St Giles, Cheadle (1841–46), the church of St Chad, Shrewsbury (1839–42), the church of St Augustine, Ramsgate (1846–51), the almshouses at Albury, the furniture for Windsor Castle, and the Medieval Court at the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Pugin’s writings, particularly Contrasts (1836) and The True Principles of Pointed or Christian Architecture (1841), laid the theoretical foundations of the Gothic Revival, and his work, particularly the interior of the Houses of Parliament, was the practical expression of his theories. He was a man of strong opinions and a controversial figure, and he was one of the most important architects of the Victorian period. He died in 1852, in the white tower of his own church of St Augustine, Ramsgate, and he was buried in the church he had designed.

The Team of Architects

The new Houses of Parliament were designed by Charles Barry, with the assistance of A. W. N. Pugin and a large team of collaborators. The team included Barry’s son Edward Middleton Barry, who completed the remaining works after his father’s death in 1860; John Thomas, who supervised the architectural sculpture of the building; and Edmund Beckett Denison, who, with the Astronomer Royal George Airy, designed the great clock whose bell is known as Big Ben. A small army of other sculptors, painters, craftsmen, and contractors carried out the decoration of the building, including Augustus Pugin’s son E. W. Pugin, the painter and designer J. R. Clayton, and the sculptors Henry Weekes, John Bell, and Matthew Noble.

The Building Today

The new Houses of Parliament were constructed between 1840 and 1870, and the building is one of the most famous in the world. The building is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is a Grade I listed building. The building is the meeting place of the two chambers of the British Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and it is also the home of a number of other institutions, including the Speaker’s House, the Lord Chancellor’s Residence, the Chapel of St Mary Undercroft, and the Westminster Hall, the great medieval hall that survived the fire of 1834. The building is open to visitors, and it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in London. The history of the building is examined in Famous Victorian Buildings and Landmarks, and the style of the building is examined in What is Gothic Revival architecture?.