Smith and Brewer

Arnold Dunbar Smith (1866-1933) was born in Islington in 1866. He apprenticed with J.G. Gibbons of Brighton in 1883 and studied at the Brighton School of Art and the Architectural Association in London. He later entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1890. He worked for Millard & Baggallay between 1884 and 1895 while he continued his studies. During this period, he also traveled in France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. He formed a partnership with Cecil Brewer in 1895.

Cecil Claude Brewer (1871-1918) was born in 1871 and attended Clifton College for a brief period in 1889. He apprenticed to F.T. Baggallay between 1890 and 1893 while continuing his studies. He attended the University College in London where he received the Donaldson Medal in 1890. From 1891 to 1893 he attended the Architectural Association, winning the silver Medals for 1892 and 1893 as well as the AA Traveling Studentship in 1894. From 1893 to 1898 he studied at the Royal Academy Schools where he won the Gold Medal and Traveling Studentship. It was probably at this time that he met Arnold Smith. He traveled in France, England, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands. Brewer's interest in the Arts and Crafts movement led him to attend the Werkbund exhibition in Cologne.

Smith and Brewer formed a partnership in 1895 in London. Both men were members of the Art Workers Guild (Brewer elected in 1901 and Smith elected in c1922) which provided a forum for ideas and encouraged cooperation between architects, artists and craftsmen. Brewer also served on the Art Workers Guild Committee from 1906 to 1907 and was one of the founding leaders of the Design and Industries Association.

In 1895, Smith and Brewer won the competition for the Passmore Edwards Settlement in Tavistock Place, London which established their reputation as arts and crafts architects working in the so-called “Free Style” of the 1890s (an attempt to create a new architectural style for England). The firm designed mainly domestic work utilizing vernacular traditions (such as Fives Court, Pinner Middlesex) until 1909 when they won the competition for the National Museum of Wales (1910) in Cathays Park, Cardiff. This monumental building, one of the earliest in Great Britain to utilize the Beaux-Arts style then popular in the United States, signaled a change in direction for the firm. The Arts and Crafts Movement was failing and architects were returning to classicism, particularly for large, public buildings. The innovative design of Heal's Furniture Store (1916), however, suppressed the classical imagery in favor of an honest expression of the steel frame structure of the building.

After Brewer's death in 1918, Smith continued the work of the firm and designed many houses as well as additions to the Fitzwilliam Museum (1924-1933). In 1930, J.A. Meikle and K.W.F. Harris became partners under the firm name of A. Dunbar Smith. After Smith's death in 1933, Meikle, Harris and Sidney Clark continued the practice under the original firm name of Smith and Brewer. The firm was dissolved with the death of Clark in 1949.

Arnold Dunbar Smith (1866-1933) and Cecil Claude Brewer (1871-1918) formed a partnership in London in 1895, establishing a reputation as arts and crafts architects working in the so-called "Free Style" of the 1890s.

The firm's work was mainly domestic, using vernacular traditions, until their design for the National Museum of Wales (1910) in which they employed the then-popular Beaux-Arts style.