| Christopher Bowerbank | |
| Birth Date: | 17 November 1940 |
| Death Date: | 25 April 2002 (aged 61) |
| Birth Place: | Biddestone, Wiltshire, England |
| Death Place: | Notting Hill, London, England |
| Education: | Sherborne School |
| Alma Mater: | Architectural Association School of Architecture |
| Relations: | Great uncle: Sir Fred Thompson Bowerbank |
Christopher William Bowerbank (17 November 1940 – 25 April 2002) was an English architect and raconteur.[1] Bowerbank's obituary in The Daily Telegraph described him as a ‘celebrated member of West London society and one of the best conversationalists of his generation’.[2] [3] Will Self recalled that Bowerbank had the ability to transition between the "haut, beau and demi-mondes". In his later years Bowerbank was said to resemble Beethoven.[2] [3]
In his early years as an architect, Bowerbank lived in Camden in the same house as Bruce Robinson, the film producer.[2] [3] [4] Bowerbank's Jaguar was said to be the inspiration behind the mode of transport to Penrith in Robinson's cult classic film Withnail and I.[5]
At the time of Bowerbank's death he was engaged to Emma Soames, the editor of The Daily Telegraph magazine and granddaughter of Winston Churchill.[2] [3] [6] According to his obituary in The Daily Telegraph, Bowerbank 'talked to everyone with the same charm and vigorous attack – whether it was Princess Margaret or the locals on his beloved Orkney island of Rousay, where he had a home for more than 25 years’.
Christopher William Bowerbank was born on 17 November 1940 in Biddestone, Wiltshire.[2] [3] He was the son of a Royal Navy Commander, Geoffrey Bowerbank, and Mary Winifred Bowerbank (née Kirtley), and educated at Sherborne School where he shared a study with Nigel Dempster.[2] [3] Bowerbank matriculated at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, graduating with a first, and afterwards turned down two scholarship offers to study English at Columbia University, New York.[2] [3] Sir Peter Cook was influential on Bowerbank's architectural style.[1]
After the AA, Bowerbank attempted a series of apprenticeships which were not to his liking.[2] [3] He temporarily and characteristically ended up an escort and driver to Marianne Faithfull through whom he gained a commission to design the headquarters of Impact Records, then the record label of The Rolling Stones.[2] [3] The headquarters were never constructed but the experience set up Bowerbank as an independent architect for the rest of his professional life.[2] [3]
Bowerbank built his practice in London's Fitzrovia, behind Bertorelli's Restaurant on Charlotte Street.[2] [3] He was never a modernist in architectural style: when asked to extend or modify an old building, he would not seek to detract from the original, reflecting his respect for British style and tradition.[2] [3] [7] Bowerbank worked on both residential and commercial buildings and he was noted for his sympathetic restoration of listed buildings, particularly in London.[1] [8] His work often required complex negotiations with English Heritage and council planners.[1]
Bowerbank's work included the headquarters for Radiodetection in Bristol, work on Redcliffe Mews in London and Howabreck House on Orkney.[3] [9] In 1990, he won an English Heritage award for his renovation work on The Convent in Stourhead, Wiltshire, which was Grade I listed.[10] [11]
From an early age, Bowerbank was an amateur ornithologist.[2] [3] He rarely talked about his professional work, preferring instead to talk about literature, philosophy and the European Union, the latter being a subject on which he was a firm critic.[2] [3] At the time of Bowerbank's death he was engaged to Emma Soames, granddaughter of Winston Churchill and then the editor of The Daily Telegraph magazine.[2] [3] [6]
Bowerbank's great uncle was Sir Fred Thompson Bowerbank, Hon. Physician to King George VI.[5] [12] For 25 years, Bowerbank had a home on the island of Orkney, Viera Lodge, where he entertained friends from London and engaged in his love of ornithology.[6] [13]
Bowerbank died in his sleep in Notting Hill on 25 April 2002, aged 61.[6]