Arthur John Hope

Arthur John Hope, known as "AJ" (1875–1960) was a British architect and president of the Manchester Society of Architects (1924).

A. J. Hope was born on 2 October 1875 Atherton in the historic county of Lancashire. He attended Wigan Grammar School and studied civil engineering at the Bolton School of Science and Art.[1] Hope entered the office of Bradshaw & Gass as a pupil in 1892 and was made a partner ten years later creating Bradshaw, Gass & Hope[2] (after 1912 Bradshaw Gass & Hope). Hope was admitted to the Royal Institute of British Architects as a licentiate in July 1911 after being proposed by his partner John Bradshaw Gass and Paul Ogden.[1]

Bolton Town Hall extensions and Civic Centre, design conceived by A. J. Hope

Hope was respected as a building planner but was a poor draftsman[2] and required a large number of assistants to interpret his ideas. By the 1930s, he was an intimidating figure dominating an office in which there was a strict hierarchy of professions.[3] One of his interpreters was George Grenfell Baines whose work so impressed Hope he considered making him a partner.[3] Hope was a traditionalist, favouring a severe classical style derived from the later Georgian architects, with a strong dislike of Modernism; under his direction Bradshaw Gass & Hope continued to produce neo-Georgian designs until the 1960s.[4]

See also

• Bradshaw Gass & Hope

References

1. Basic Biographical Details, Dictionary of Scottish Architects1840-1980, retrieved 9 November 2014
2. R. M. McNaught, "Arthur John Hope" [obituary], RIBA Journal, 67 (1960), p. 336.
3. George Grenfell-Baines (2000), interviewed by Louise Brodie at Preston, (January 5–11) Architects’ Lives, London: National Biographical Archive, C467/46/F7839
4. Austen Redman (2007), Bolton Civic Centre and the Classical Revival Style of Bradshaw Gass & Hope. in Clare Hartwell & Terry Wyke (editors), Making Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire Antiquarian Society, ISBN 978-0-900942-01-3