Sir John Soane (; né Soan; 10 September 1753 – 20 January 1837) was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and an official architect to the Office of Works. He received a knighthood in 1831.
Soane's best-known work was the Bank of England (his work there is largely destroyed), a building which had a widespread effect on commercial architecture. He also designed Dulwich Picture Gallery, which, with its top-lit galleries, was a major influence on the planning of subsequent art galleries and museums.
His main legacy is Sir John Soane's Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields in his former home and office, designed to display the art works and architectural artefacts that he collected during his lifetime. The museum is described in the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture as "one of the most complex, intricate, and ingenious series of interiors ever conceived".
Background and training
Soane was born in Goring-on-Thames on 10 September 1753. He was the second surviving son of John Soan and his wife Martha. The 'e' was added to the surname by the architect in 1784 on his marriage. His father was a builder or bricklayer, and died when Soane was fourteen in April 1768. He was educated in nearby Reading in a private school run by William Baker. After his father's death Soane's family moved to nearby Chertsey to live with Soane's brother William, 12 years his elder.
William Soan introduced his brother to James Peacock, a surveyor who worked with George Dance the Younger. Soane began his training as an architect age 15 under George Dance the Younger and joined the architect at his home and office in the City of London at the corner of Moorfields and Chiswell Street. Dance was a founding member of the Royal Academy and doubtless encouraged Soane to join the schools there on 25 October 1771 as they were free. There he would have attended the architecture lectures delivered by Thomas Sandby and the lectures on perspective delivered by Samuel Wale.
Dance's growing family was probably the reason that in 1772 Soane continued his education by joining the household and office of Henry Holland. He recalled later that he was "placed in the office of an eminent builder in extensive practice where I had every opportunity of surveying the progress of building in all its different varieties, and of attaining the knowledge of measuring and valuing artificers' work". During his studies at the Royal Academy, he was awarded the academy's silver medal on 10 December 1772 for a measured drawing of the façade of the Banqueting House, Whitehall, which was followed by the gold medal on 10 December 1776 for his design of a Triumphal Bridge. He received a travelling scholarship in December 1777 and exhibited at the Royal Academy a design for a mausoleum for his friend and fellow student James King, who had drowned in 1776 on a boating trip to Greenwich. Soane, a non-swimmer, was going to be with the party but decided to stay home and work on his design for a Triumphal Bridge. By 1777, Soane was living in his own accommodation in Hamilton Street. In 1778 he published his first book, Designs in Architecture. He sought advice from Sir William Chambers on what to study: "Always see with your own eyes ... [you] must discover their true beauties, and the secrets by which they are produced." Using his travelling scholarship of £60 per annum for three years, plus an additional £30 travelling expenses for each leg of the journey, Soane set sail on his Grand Tour, his ultimate destination being Rome, at 5:00 am, 18 March 1778.
Grand Tour
His travelling companion was Robert Furze Brettingham; they travelled via Paris, where they visited Jean-Rodolphe Perronet, and then went on to the Palace of Versailles on 29 March. They finally reached Rome on 2 May 1778. Soane wrote home, "my attention is entirely taken up in the seeing and examining the numerous and inestimable remains of Antiquity ...". His first dated drawing is 21 May of the church of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura (Saint Agnes Outside the Walls). His former classmate, the architect Thomas Hardwick, returned to Rome in June from Naples. Hardwick and Soane would produce a series of measured drawings and ground plans of Roman buildings together. During the summer they visited Hadrian's Villa and the Temple of Vesta, Tivoli, while back in Rome they investigated the Colosseum. In August Soane was working on a design for a British Senate House to be submitted for the 1779 Royal Academy summer exhibition.
In the autumn he met the Bishop of Derry, Frederick Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol, who had built several grand properties for himself. The Earl presented copies of I quattro libri dell'architettura and De architectura to Soane. In December the Earl introduced Soane to Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford, an acquaintance which would lead eventually to architectural commissions. The Earl persuaded Soane to accompany him to Naples, setting off from Rome on 22 December 1778. On the way they visited Capua and the Palace of Caserta, arriving in Naples on 29 December. It was there that Soane met two future clients, John Patteson and Richard Bosanquet. From Naples Soane made several excursions including to Pozzuoli, Cumae and Pompeii, where he met yet another future client, Philip Yorke. Soane also attended a performance at Teatro di San Carlo and climbed Mount Vesuvius. Visiting Paestum, Soane was deeply impressed by the Greek temples. Next he visited the Certosa di Padula, then went on to Eboli and Salerno and its cathedral. Later they visited Benevento and Herculaneum. The Earl and Soane left for Rome on 12 March 1779, travelling via Capua, Gaeta, the Pontine Marshes, Velletri, the Alban Hills and Lake Albano, and Castel Gandolfo. Back in Rome they visited the Palazzo Barberini and witnessed the celebrations of Holy Week. Shortly after, the Earl and his family departed for home, followed a few weeks later by Thomas Hardwick.
It was then that Soane met Maria Hadfield (they became lifelong friends) and Thomas Banks. Soane was now fairly fluent in the Italian language, a sign of his growing confidence. A party, including Thomas Bowdler, Rowland Burdon, John Patteson, John Stuart and Henry Grewold Lewis, decided to visit Sicily and paid for Soane to accompany them as a draughtsman. The party headed for Naples on 11 April, where on 21 April they caught a Swedish ship to Palermo. Soane visited the Villa Palagonia, which made a deep impact on him. Influenced by the account of the Villa in his copy of Patrick Brydone's Tour through Sicily and Malta, Soane savoured the "Prince of Palagonia's Monsters ... nothing more than the most extravagant caricatures in stone", but more significantly seems to have been inspired by the Hall of Mirrors to introduce similar effects when he came to design the interiors of his own house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Leaving Palermo from where the party split, Stuart and Bowdler going off together. The rest headed for Segesta, Trapani, Selinunte and Agrigento, exposing Soane to Ancient Greek architecture. From Agrigento the party headed for Licata, where they sailed for Malta and Valletta returning on 2 June, to Syracuse, Sicily. Moving on to Catania and Palazzo Biscari then Mount Etna, Taormina, Messina and the Lepari Islands. They were back in Naples by 2 July where Soane purchased books and prints, visiting Sorrento before returning to Rome. Shortly after, John Patterson returned to England via Vienna, from where he sent Soane the first six volumes of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, delivered by Antonio Salieri.
In Rome Soane's circle now included Henry Tresham, Thomas Jones and Nathaniel Marchant. Soane continued to study the buildings of Rome, including the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Soane and Rowland Burdon set out in August for Lombardy. Their journey included visits to Ancona, Rimini, Bologna, Parma and its Accademia, Milan, Verona, Vicenza and its buildings by Andrea Palladio, Padua, the Brenta (river) with its villas by Palladio, Venice. Then back to Bologna where Soane copied designs for completing the west front of San Petronio Basilica including ones by Palladio, Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola and Baldassare Peruzzi. Then to Florence and the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of which he was later, in January 1780 elected a member; then returned to Rome.
Soane continued his study of buildings, including Villa Lante, Palazzo Farnese, Palazzo Massimo alle Colonne, the Capitoline Museums and the Villa Albani. That autumn he met Henry Bankes. Soane prepared plans for the Banke's house Kingston Lacy, but these came to nothing. Early in 1780 Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol wrote to Soane offering him various architectural commissions. Soane decided to return to England and began to organise his return journey. He left Rome on 19 April 1780, travelling with the Reverend George Holgate and his pupil Michael Pepper. They visited the Villa Farnese, then on to Siena. Then Florence where they visited the Palazzo Pitti, Uffizi, Santo Spirito, Giotto's Campanile and other sites.
Performing at the Teatro della Pergola was Nancy Storace with whom Soane formed a lifelong friendship. Their journey continued on via Bologna, Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Mantua where he sketched Palazzo del Te, Parma, Piacenza. In Milan he attended La Scala – the theatre was a growing interest – and from Lake Como they began their crossing of the Alps via the Splügen Pass. They then passed on to Zürich, Reichenau, Wettingen, Schaffhausen, Basel on the way to which the bottom of Soane's trunk came loose on the coach and spilled the contents behind it. He thus lost many of his books, drawings, drawing instruments, clothes and his gold and silver medals from the Royal Academy (none of which was recovered). He continued his journey on to Freiburg im Breisgau, Cologne, Liège, Leuven and Brussels before embarking for England.
Early projects
Struggle to establish architectural practice
He reached England in June 1780; thanks to his Grand Tour he was £120 in debt. After a brief stop in London, Soane headed for Frederick Augustus Hervey, 4th Earl of Bristol's estate at Ickworth House in Suffolk, where the Earl was planning to build a new house. But immediately the Earl changed his mind and dispatched Soane to Downhill House, in County Londonderry, Ireland, where Soane arrived on 27 July 1780. The Earl had grandiose plans to rebuild the house, but Soane and the Earl disagreed over the design and parted company, Soane receiving only £30 for his efforts. He left via Belfast sailing to Glasgow. From Glasgow he travelled to Allanbank, Scottish Borders, home of a family by the name of Stuart he had met in Rome, and prepared plans for a new mansion for the family, but again the commission came to nothing. In early December 1780 Soane took lodgings at 10 Cavendish Street, London. To pay his way his friends from the Grand Tour, Thomas Pitt and Philip Yorke, gave him commissions for repairs and minor alterations. Anna, Lady Miller, considered building a temple in her garden at Batheaston to Soane's design and he hoped he might receive work from her circle of friends. But again this was not to be. To help him out, George Dance gave Soane a few measuring jobs, including one in May 1781 on his repairs to Newgate Prison of damage caused by the Gordon Riots.
To give Soane some respite, Thomas Pitt invited him to stay in 1781 at his Thamesside villa of Petersham Lodge, which Soane was commissioned to redecorate and repair. Also in 1781 Philip Yorke gave Soane commissions: at his home, Hamels Park in Hertfordshire, he designed a new entrance gate and lodges, followed by a new dairy and alterations to the house, and in London alterations and redecoration of 63 New Cavendish Street. Increasingly desperate for work Soane entered a competition in March 1782 to design a prison, but failed to win. Soane continued to get other minor design work in 1782.
Architectural career and success
From the mid-1780s on Soane would receive a steady stream of commissions until his semi-retirement in 1832.
Early domestic works
It was not until 1783 that Soane received his first commission for a new country house, Letton Hall in Norfolk. The house was a fairly modest villa but it was a sign that at last Soane's career was taking off and led to other work in East Anglia: Saxlingham Rectory in 1784, Shotesham Hall in 1785, Tendring Hall in 1784–86, and the remodelling of Ryston Hall in 1787.
At this early stage in his career Soane was dependent on domestic work, including: Piercefield House (1784), now a ruin; the remodelling of Chillington Hall (1785); The Manor, Cricket St Thomas (1786); Bentley Priory (1788); the extension of the Roman Catholic Chapel at New Wardour Castle (1788). An important commission was alterations to William Pitt the Younger's Holwood House in 1786, Soane had befriended William Pitt's uncle Thomas on his grand tour. In 1787 Soane remodelled the interior of Fonthill Splendens (later replaced by Fonthill Abbey) for Thomas Beckford, adding a picture gallery lit by two domes and other work.
Bank of England
On 16 October 1788 he succeeded Sir Robert Taylor as architect and surveyor to the Bank of England. He would work at the bank for the next 45 years, resigning in 1833. Given Soane's youth and relative inexperience, his appointment was down to the influence of William Pitt, who was then the Prime Minister and his friend from the Grand Tour, Richard Bosanquet whose brother was Samuel Bosanquet, Director and later Governor of the Bank of England. His salary was set at 5% of the cost of any building works at the Bank, paid every six months. Soane would virtually rebuild the entire bank, and vastly extend it. The five main banking halls were based on the same basic layout, starting with the Bank Stock Office of 1791–96, consists of a rectangular room, the centre with a large lantern light supported by piers and pendentives, then the four corners of the rectangle have low vaulted spaces, and in the centre of each side compartments rising to the height of the arches supporting the central lantern, the room is vaulted in brick and windows are iron framed to ensure the rooms are as fire proof as possible.
His work at the bank was:
Erection of Barracks for the Bank Guards and rooms for the Governor, officers and servants of the Bank (1790).
Between 1789 and February 1791 Soane oversaw acquisition of land northwards along Princes Street.
The erection of the outer wall along the newly acquired land (1791).
Erection of the Bank Stock Office the first of his major interiors at the bank, with its fire proof brick vault (1791–96).
The erection of The Four Percent Office (replacing Robert Taylor's room) (1793).
The erection of the Rotunda (replacing Robert Taylor's rotunda) (1794).
The erection of the Three Percent Consols Transfer Office (1797–99).
Acquisition of more land to the north along Bartholomew Lane, Lothbury and Prince's Street (1792).
Erection of outer wall along the north-east corner of the site, including an entrance arch for carriage (1794–98).
Erection of houses for the Chief Accountant and his deputy (1797).
The erection of the Lothbury Court within the new gate, leading to the inner courtyard used to receive Bullion (1797–1800).
Extension of the Bank to the north-west, the exterior wall was extended around the junction of Lothbury and Princes Street, forming the 'Tivoli Corner' which is based on the Temple of Vesta, Tivoli that Soane had visited and much admired, halfway down Princes street he created the Doric Vestibule as a minor entrance to the building and within two new courtyards that were surrounded by the rooms he built in 1790 and new rooms including printing offices for banknotes, the £5 Note Office and new offices for the Accountants, the Bullion Office off the Lothbury Court (1800–1808).
Rebuilding of the vestibule and entrance from Bartholmew Lane (1814–1818).
The rebuilding of Robert Taylor's 3 Percent Consols Transfer Office and 3 Percent Consols Warrant Office and completion of the exterior wall around the south-east and south-west boundaries including the main-entrance in the centre of Threadneedle Street (1818–1827).
In 1807 Soane designed New Bank Buildings on Princes Street for the Bank, consisting of a terrace of five mercantile residences, which were then leased to prominent city firms.
The Bank being Soane's most famous work, Sir Herbert Baker's rebuilding of the Bank after demolishing most of Soane's earlier building was described by Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest architectural crime, in the City of London, of the twentieth century".
Architects' Club
A growing sign of Soane's success was an invitation to become a member of the Architects' Club that was formed on 20 October 1791. Practically all the leading practitioners in London were members, and it combined a meeting to discuss professional matters, at 5:00 pm on the first Thursday of every month with a dinner. The four founders were Soane's former teachers George Dance and Henry Holland with James Wyatt and Samuel Pepys Cockerell. Other original members included: Sir William Chambers, Thomas Sandby, Robert Adam, Matthew Brettingham the Younger, Thomas Hardwick and Robert Mylne. Members who later joined included Sir Robert Smirke and Sir Jeffrey Wyattville.
Royal Hospital Chelsea
On 20 January 1807 Soane was made clerk of works of Royal Hospital Chelsea. He held the post until his death thirty years later; it paid a salary of £200 per annum. His designs were: a new infirmary (built 1810; destroyed in 1941 during The Blitz), a new stable block and extension of his own official residence in 1814; a new bakehouse in 1815; a new gardener's house in 1816; a new guard-house and Secretary's Office with space for fifty staff in 1818; a Smoking Room in 1829 and finally a garden shelter in 1834.
Freemasons' Hall, London
Soane, who was a UGLE Freemason, was employed to extend Freemasons' Hall, London in 1821 by building a new gallery; later in 1826 he prepared various plans for a new hall, but it was only built in 1828–1831, including a council chamber, and smaller room next to it and a staircase leading to a kitchen and scullery in the basement. The building was demolished to make way for the current building.
Official appointments
In October 1791 Soane was appointed Clerk of Works with responsibility for St James's Palace, Whitehall and The Palace of Westminster. Between 1795 and 1799 Soane was Deputy Surveyor of His Majesty's Woods and Forest, on a salary of £200 per annum. James Wyatt's death in 1813 led to Soane together with John Nash and Robert Smirke, being appointed official architect to the Office of Works in 1813, the appointment ended in 1832, at a salary of £500 per annum. As part of this position he was invited to advise the Parliamentary Commissioners on the building of new churches from 1818 onward. He was required to produce designs for churches to seat 2000 people for £12,000 or less though Soane thought the cost too low, of the three churches he designed for the Commission all were classical in style. The three churches were: St Peter's Church, Walworth (1823–24), for £18,348; Holy Trinity Church, Marylebone (1826–27), for £24,708; St John on Bethnal Green (1826–28), for £15,999.
Public buildings
Soane designed several public buildings in London, including: National Debt Redemption Office (1817) demolished 1900; Insolvent Debtors Court (1823) demolished 1861; Privy Council and Board of Trade Offices, Whitehall (1823–24), remodelled by Sir Charles Barry, the building now houses the Cabinet Office; in a new departure for Soane he used the Italianate style for The New State Paper Office, (1829–30) demolished 1868 to make way for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building.
His commissions in Ireland included: Dublin, Soane was commissioned by the Bank of Ireland to design a new headquarters for the triangular site on Westmoreland Street now occupied by the Westin Hotel. However, when the Irish Parliament was abolished in 1800, the Bank abandoned the project and instead bought the former Parliament Buildings. In 1808 he started work on the design of the Royal Belfast Academical Institution, for which he refused to charge. Building work began on 3 July 1810 and was completed in 1814. The remodelling of the interior has left little of Soane's work.
Later domestic work
Country homes for the landed gentry included: new rooms and remodelling of Wimpole Hall and garden buildings (1790–1794) for his friend Philip Yorke whom he met on his Grand Tour; remodelling of Baronscourt, County Tyrone, Ireland (1791); Tyringham Hall (1792–1820); and the remodelling of Aynhoe Park (1798).
In 1804, he remodelled Ramsey Abbey (none of his work there now survives); the remodelling of the south front of Port Eliot and new interiors (1804–06); the Gothic Library at Stowe House (1805–06); Moggerhanger House (1791–1809); for Marden Hill, Hertfordshire, Soane designed a new porch and entrance hall (1818); the remodelling of Wotton House after damage by fire (1820); a terrace of six houses above shops in Regent Street London (1820–21), demolished; and Pell Wall Hall (1822). Among Soane's most notable works are the dining rooms of both Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street (1824–26) for the Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer respectively of Great Britain.
Dulwich Picture Gallery
In 1811, Soane was appointed as architect for Dulwich Picture Gallery, the first purpose-built public art gallery in Britain, to house the Dulwich collection, which had been held by art dealers Sir Francis Bourgeois and his partner Noel Desenfans. Bourgeois's will stipulated that the Gallery should be designed by his friend John Soane to house the collection. Uniquely the building also incorporates a mausoleum containing the bodies of Francis Bourgeois, and Mr and Mrs Desenfans. The Dulwich Picture Gallery was completed in 1817. The five main galleries are lit by elongated roof lanterns.
New Law Courts
As an official architect of the Office of Works Soane was asked to design the New Law Courts at Westminster Hall, he began surveying the building on 12 July 1820. Soane was to extend the law courts along the west front of Westminster Hall providing accommodation for five courts: The Court of Exchequer, Chancery, Equity, King's Bench and Common Pleas. The foundations were laid in October 1822 and the shell of the building completed by February 1824. Then Henry Bankes launched an attack on the design of the building, as a consequence Soane had to demolish the facade and set the building lines back several feet and redesign the building in a gothic style instead of the original classical design, Soane rarely designed gothic buildings. The building opened on 21 January 1825, and remained in use until the Royal Courts of Justice opened in 1882, after this the building was demolished in 1883 and the site left as lawn. All the court rooms displayed Soane's typically complex lighting arrangements, being top lit by roof lanterns often concealed from direct view.