Howell Killick Partridge and Amis

The Alton Estate is widely acclaimed as one of the seminal works of the modern architecture in Britain. Yet few know its creators, four ambitious young architects in the employ of the London County Council: Bill Howell, John Killick, John Partridge, and Stan Amis.
 
Howell Killick Partridge & Amis tells the story of these four architects who launched their firm with a maverick design for Churchill College, Cambridge. Deriving a distinct design language from revealed structures and highly modeled surfaces, Howell Killick Partridge & Amis (HKPA) developed a rich architecture that they applied to a range of projects—from additions to Oxford and Cambridge Colleges to theaters, houses, and government buildings. Although a mastery of precast concrete and a preference for raw finishes earned them an early reputation as brutalists, their sensitivity to context, refined sense of light and materials, and eye for the qualities of historic buildings transcends any single style. Geraint Franklin has combined interviews with archival research to tell the story behind HPKA’s built and unrealized projects. Lavishly illustrated with new photography by James O. Davies and images from the archive, the book is a must for students and architects wanting to discover this key practice in British postwar architecture.