Peter Yates (architect)

Peter Yates (19 July 1920 – 16 November 1982) was a British born artist and architect. Yates was best known for his partnership with Gordon Ryder in the North of England architectural firm, Ryder and Yates.

Peter Yates was born in Leytonstone, East London in 1920. He was attracted to the visual arts at an early age, winning a painting competition in Chicks' Own in 1925. Whilst at Wanstead School from September 1934 to July 1936, he painted a mural 'Events at Sea'.

Peter worked as a furniture and model maker during 1937 before attending the London Polytechnic School of Architecture, studying under Sir Hubert Bennett, Peter Moro and Robin Day from January 1938 to April 1941.

Peter Yates served as a fireman on the St Paul's Watch in early 1941, during which he painted Wren's churches during the London Blitz. He met the antiquary and architectural historian, Gerald Cobb, while drawing in Ludgate Circus and they became lifelong friends. Peter joined the RAF in July 1941 and was stationed in Wales and Ireland before going to Versailles in 1944 with the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces.

Peter Yates lived in Paris following the war where he met many artists and writers, including Georges Braque,, , Juliette Greco, , Gertrude Stein, Alice Toklas, Andre L'Hote, Sylvia Beach and Le Corbusier.

Peter Yates and Clive Entwistle were invited to work on plans for a new UNO building in New York by Le Corbusier.

Pyramid Project for the New Crystal Palace with Clive Entwhistle at Ove Arup's office, Soho 1947.

Masterplan for Peterlee new town with Berthold Lubetkin in 1948 (where Peter Yates first met Gordon Ryder).

Peter Yates returned to Paris in 1950 as Chief Designer at Unité d’Informations Visuelles, a commercial art studio located in the Old Alhambra night club in the gardens of the Champs Élysées. From here, he contributed to exhibitions across Europe. These included Europa Zug and Atoms for Peace. (Here, Peter collaborated with from whom Ryder and Yates later commissioned murals for Norgas House, Killingworth).

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