Obituary: Ursula Bowyer (1925-2025), trailblazer for postwar modernism

Ursula Bowyer was one of a small group of women who, after the Second World War, significantly influenced perceptions of the architect and contemporary architecture in England. Joining a profession dominated by men she worked energetically as a practitioner while engaging with diverse communities as an advocate for the importance and value of design.

And, like several of her colleagues, Ursula also married an architect, Gordon Bowyer (1923-2019). The two worked together for more than 50 years and built a significant practice defined by thoughtful collaboration, a dedication to contemporary design and a commitment to the importance of people and the civic realm.  

Born Ursula Meyer in Germany, 1925, she grew up in Berlin before moving to England with her family in 1938. She attended Camden School for Girls but was then evacuated to Grantham. On returning to London, she enrolled at the Regent Street Polytechnic at the age of 16. At the time the ‘Poly’ was a particularly lively focus of design and she joined a group of students there that included Trevor Dannatt and Alan Irvine as well as her future husband. Peter Moro, another German émigré, was one of her teachers. Ursula then went on to work with Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry.

Ursula and Gordon married in 1950 and almost immediately received their first design commission: the Sports Pavilion for the South Bank exhibition of the 1951 Festival of Britain. Their proposal consisted of five canopied enclosures, each highlighting a particular sport, aligned with a river walk across the Thames. Though modest by comparison with the Dome of Discovery, the Festival Hall and the Skylon, the pavilion attracted attention and became a popular destination.

The Bowyers’ practice thrived and, after sharing workspaces with Margaret Finch and later Peter Moro and Iain Langlands, they established their own office in Covent Garden. The firm designed civic buildings that included work at the British Museum, exhibitions, housing and houses. They also attracted international clients including IBM and Max Factor.

Projects for Vidal Sassoon, first in Mayfair in 1963 and a few years later in Manchester, were widely published. Subsequently they were commissioned to design and oversee the construction of new salons for Sassoon in New York and San Francisco.

In 1950, the couple bought a Georgian house in Maze Hill, overlooking Greenwich Park, which remained their family home for 74 years. Their children Caroline and Martin grew up there and the house and its splendid walled garden became the focus of family lives and community activities. Both were energetically engaged in civic and cultural activities locally, across London and more widely. Together with colleagues in Greenwich and Blackheath, they advocated for contemporary architecture and were instrumental in advancing public appreciation of design in south-east London.

Ursula was an energetic supporter of the Greenwich Society, and her quiet determination and commitment were fundamental to the building of an active community of people with interests in architecture, the civic realm, landscape design and urban development, which continues to shape development today.

She played important roles in the expansion and reuse of the Royal Naval College, which now houses the University of Greenwich and Trinity School of Music. She also worked tirelessly with local communities and government agencies, advising on development and serving as surveyor of the fabric for a local diocese.

In 2010, Ursula was awarded an honorary doctorate of design by the University of Greenwich – recognition both of her role as an arduous campaigner for the preservation and improvement of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, and her significance as a modernist architect.  

Brian Carter is an architect and professor at the School of Architecture and Planning at the University at Buffalo