Thomas Ripley (architect)

Thomas Ripley (1682 Yorkshire – 10 February 1758, London) was an English architect.

He first kept a coffee house in Wood Street, off Cheapside, London and in 1705 was admitted to the Carpenter's Company. An ex-carpenter, he rose by degrees to become an architect and Surveyor in the royal Office of Works. He was influenced by the Palladian style, but never lost his provincial manner, which earned the private derision of Sir John Vanbrugh and the public scorn of Alexander Pope.

His works include Houghton Hall for Sir Robert Walpole, which was first designed by the Palladian architects Colen Campbell and William Kent. These designs were greatly altered by Ripley.

His appointment in 1715 as Labourer in Trust at the Savoy marked the beginning of his continuous rise through the Office of the King's works. In 1721 he succeeded Grinling Gibbons as "Master Carpenter" and in 1726 he succeeded Vanbrugh as Comptroller of the King's Works, largely to the influence of Walpole. Walpole also engineered an additional appointment as Surveyor of Greenwich Hospital which was completed by him.

Buildings for the Office of Works included the Custom House (1718) and the Admiralty (1723-6), known as the Ripley Building, in London as well as the Queen Mary Block and chapel at Greenwich from 1729-1750. In 1739 he was collaborating with William Kent on designs for the New Houses of Parliament and between 1750-54 he made a great number of changes to Kent's designs for the Horse Guards.

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