Lanchester, Henry Vaughan (1863-1953)

English architect and town-planner. His most notable buildings were Deptford Town Hall (1901); the Wesleyan Central Hall, Westminster (1905-11); extensions of Leeds University (1926); Birmingham Hospital Centre; Birmingham Technical College; town halls at Hackney and Beckenham; the Esso refinery at Fawley; and the Bovril factory, London.

He also designed several other technical colleges; extensions of St Bartholomew's Hospital; science buildings in Oxford, Cambridge, and Belfast; and numerous research stations. In India, Lanchester planned 20 towns including Madras (now Chennai), reported on the site for New Delhi, and built a colossal palace for the Maharaja of Jodhpur.

Born in London, Lanchester came into prominence in 1899 when, with his partners E A Rickards (died 1920) and James Stewart (died 1904), he won the competition for the City Hall and Law Courts at Cardiff. His firm, which included other partners during the next 50 years, had other such successes in competitions which accounted for much of their work. He edited The Builder 1910-12, and published The Art of Town Planning in 1925.