Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin

From 1846 Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin greatly assisted Charles Barry with thousands of detailed designs for the New Palace of Westminster, the old Palace having burnt down in 1834. Pugin designed a huge variety of different fixtures and fittings from enormous stained glass windows to sturdy sofas; from beautiful desks to intricate doorknobs. Barry co-ordinated the overall project and designed the Palace as a whole but it was Pugin who supplied the detail and had the passion to deliver the complex gothic interiors that can be seen today.

Pugin believed in his “True Principles” of architecture and design, that everything should suit the setting it was designed for and that items should be honest in their construction and avoid any frivolousness which served no function. With Barry he designed an incredible variety of items which reflect the hierarchy of rooms within the building including over 20 different types of desk and over 100 different types of table. Pugin died in 1852 aged just 40.