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Maxwell Ayrton

London, United Kingdom
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Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton known as Maxwell Ayrton, was a Scottish architect. He spent most of his adult life working in London and designed houses, public buildings, and bridges. Ayrton began his career in 1890 as an articled apprentice to Harry Beswick of Chester, remaining with him until 1897. He then moved to London, where he was an assistant first to Richard Creed, then to William Alfred Pite, and finally to Edwin Landseer Lutyens. During these years he studied at the South Kensington Schools of the Royal College of Art. He passed the Royal Institute of British Architects qualifying examination and was admitted an Associate on 30 November 1903, having been proposed by Pite, John William Simpson and Lacy William Ridge.

Ayrton's most notable public building from his years with Simpson was the old Wembley Stadium, a simple structure in reinforced concrete which they designed together, built between 1921 and 1923 for the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park of 1924 to 1925. It had echoes of the Olympic stadium of 1908 at White City. Simpson received a knighthood for their Exhibition work, while as a result of it Ayrton came into an association with the project's civil engineer, Owen Williams, and this led to their working together on the design of Williams's bridges in Scotland. In 1928 Ayrton's partnership with Simpson was dissolved. Although by then over seventy, Simpson continued his practice, taking into partnership Frank W. Knight and Henley Cornford, while Ayrton returned to private practice.

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London, United Kingdom
bostjan, March 16th, 2017
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