Edmund Happold
| Edmund (Frank Ley) Happold | |
|---|---|
| Born | 8 November 1930 |
| Died | 12 January 1996 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | University of Leeds, Bootham School |
| Engineering career | |
| Discipline | Structural engineer, civil engineer |
| Institutions |
Institution of Structural Engineers Society of Arts Design Council Construction Industry Council |
| Practice name | Buro Happold |
| Projects | Centre Pompidou |
| Awards | IStructE Gold Medal |
Professor Sir Edmund Happold (1930 - 12 January 1996), better known as Ted Happold, was a structural engineer and founder of Buro Happold.
Happold was the son of Frank Happold, Professor of Biochemistry at Leeds University. After an unpleasant time at Leeds Grammar School, (where he had refused as a pacifist, to join the army cadet force), he was sent to Bootham School, York. He studied geology at the University of Leeds. His mother was a lifelong socialist. A lifelong Quaker, he registered as a conscientious objector when called to do National Service, and was directed to work as an agricultural labourer and then truck driver and dragline operator. This aroused his interest in construction, so he returned to Leeds University, where he achieved a BSc in Civil Engineering in 1957. After graduation, he spent a short time in the office of Alvar Aalto before joining Ove Arup and Partners on the recommendation of architect Basil Spence. At Ove Arup and Partners he worked with Povl Ahm, engineer for St Michael's Cathedral in Coventry. Happold studied architecture in the evenings.
In 1959 Happold moved to work with Fred Severud (a civil engineer whose work included the structural design of Madison Square Garden and the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and engineer for Eero Saarinen who died June 1990 in Miami Florida) in New York, before returning to London to work with Ove Arup and Partners in 1961. At the time Lambeth's Borough Architect Ted Hollamby was looking for a bright, socially motivated engineer who could assist with the engineering of public buildings and Happold was recommended to the role. Notable developments in Lambeth was the housing estate at Central Hill, at Kennington and the public library and auditorium at West Norwood, which Happold chose as the venue for his marriage to his wife Eve.
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