Reginald Uren

Reginald Harold Uren
Hornsey Town Hall, 1933: Uren's first major commission
Born	(1906-03-05)5 March 1906 Petone, North Island, New Zealand
Died	17 February 1988(1988-02-17) (aged 81) Newmarket, New Zealand
Occupation	Architect
Awards	RIBA London Architecture Medal, 1935 (awarded 1936) New Zealand Institute of Architects Award of Merit, 1965
Practice	Slate, Uren and Pike
Buildings	Hornsey Town Hall, Granada Cinema in Woolwich, Sanderson Building

Reginald Harold Uren FRIBA (5 March 1906 – 17 February 1988) was a New Zealand-born architect who worked in the United Kingdom for most of his career.

Uren was born in Petone, North Island on 5 March 1906, the son of Richard Ellis Uren and Christina Uren. He qualified as an architect in New Zealand in 1929, before moving to Britain to further his career; working his passage as a greaser in the engine room of a steamer to do so. He married Dorothy Morgan in 1930 and the couple had one daughter.

In Britain, Uren briefly studied architect at the University of London and under Charles Holden. He became an Associate Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1931.

In 1933, he won the architectural competition to design Hornsey Town Hall against a field of 281 entries. The town hall was his first major commission in Britain and one of the first large modernist designs constructed in the country, showing influences of Dutch and Swedish architecture of the period. The design was well received and Uren was awarded the RIBA London Architecture Medal for 1935.

In 1936, Uren became a partner in the practice of Slater, Moberley & Uren; later Slater, Uren and Pike. The practice specialised in the design of department stores including the Oxford Street store of John Lewis (1955) and the extension of Peter Jones in Sloane Square (1966). He also designed the Arthur Sanderson & Sons Building (1958, now the Sanderson Hotel) in Berners Street.