Louis Williams (architect)

Louis Reginald Williams (1890–1980) was the most sought-after ecclesiastical architect of his time in Australia. As Australia's major church architect from the 1920s to the 1970s, Williams' buildings are found throughout Australia including Cathedrals and Churches including his self-recognised magnum opus, St Andrew's Anglican Church, Brighton in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

At a time when churches were largely outside the realm of cutting edge architecture, Williams was able to maintain a traditional regard for quality, craftsmanship and architectural integrity. He produced fine ecclesiastical architecture and contrasted strongly with some of his more experimental contemporaries. Williams was a gentleman architect, liked and respected by other architects, practising to the age of eighty-six and becoming a landmark of the Australian architectural scene.

Early life

Williams was born in Hobart, Tasmania in 1890, where he attended school at Queen's College, and was brought up in a strict religious environment. His father owned a large furniture manufacturing warehouse and hoped his son would take over the business. However Williams's great interest in churches led him into architecture, where he was fortunate to receive his training from one of the prominent architects of the day, Alexander North, who was Tasmania's Anglican Diocesan Architect.

Williams later became North's junior partner, and after moving to mainland Australia about 1912 they set up their practice in Melbourne, Victoria.

Career

Ecclesiastical architecture was foremost in Williams' own practice and during more than sixty-five years in this specialised field he was responsible for designing numerous churches, chapels, vicarages, Sunday schools, kindergartens, and church halls. He also carried out some domestic and commercial commissions.

The Anglican Church was Williams's major client, for whom he carried out the majority of buildings in Victoria. He also worked for the Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Christian Scientists.

His commission was usually to design a church to accommodate a certain number of people, within a set budget. Discussions with the client included siting the building, which materials would be used inside and out, and the important issue of style. He insisted that he design all the furniture and fittings so that they harmonised with the architecture. He worked under few restrictions, but kept the client fully informed as the work progressed, advising on lighting, stained glass, metalwork, altar furnishings, church plate, wood and stone carvings, murals, opus sectile mosaics, floor coverings and more. Williams was strict, but very fair, and no shoddy work was tolerated.

For a lengthy period he was Diocesan Architect to the Diocese of Bathurst and the Diocese of Grafton. He was advisory architect to the Chapter of the Goulburn Cathedral, and designed buildings for the Dioceses of Adelaide, North Queensland, the Dioceses of Perth and Bunbury in Western Australia, Devonport and Railton, as well as every Diocese in Victoria.

After basing his practice at offices in Queen Street in central Melbourne, he moved his practice to his home in the Melbourne beach-side suburb of Brighton and remained there for the rest of his professional life.

Legacy and Character

Williams has left a legacy of fine church and cathedral buildings throughout Australia ranging from small concrete and timber bush churches to large suburban brick buildings, including one cathedral and the completion of two others. Many of the innovations he introduced into his architecture created a lasting and significant sense of space throughout his buildings, and a more comfortable environment for congregations in hot climates.

He was a gracious man, whose first love was architecture, but he also had diverse interests, such as painting, photography and mountain climbing. He was well respected as a man who treated everyone with courtesy, regardless of their status. He never found it necessary to raise his voice on the site or in the office, and managed unsophisticated committees with considerable aplomb.

Williams excelled in his designs for furniture and fittings and gathered around him a coterie of trusted craftsmen with whom he worked often and best. He earned the respect of his colleagues, staff, churchmen, builders, artisans and artists, and is remembered with affection by all those who knew him well.

References

• Gladys Marie Moore: Louis Reginald Williams. University of Melbourne, August 2001.