Architect-Surveyors as Designers of Speculative Housing: The Case of Norfolk & Prior 1901–1923

Abstract

This article is about the history of Norfolk & Prior, a firm of architects & surveyors based in Lewisham 1893–1923, and their role in that area’s house building boom of the time. The case study helps to shed more light on a crossover occupation that played a key role in the planning and design of London's speculative housing in this period. The first section touches on the business history and biography of the two main partners, Stanley Prior and Edward Stone. Stone was responsible for the architectural work of the firm, so his education is then discussed in more detail. Subsequent sections examine Norfolk & Prior’s work for several local house builders. The paper concludes by summarizing the role of Norfolk & Prior as designers of speculative housing and placing it in the wider context of a process of professionalization in architecture.