G. G. Winbourne

Goodman George Winbourne was an architect born in Russia in 1892. He used the family name of Winebaum until taking British nationality in his mid-twenties, his family having immigrated to London like so many Russian and eastern European Jews during the early part of the twentieth century. He is best known for works in Hampstead Garden Suburb and London.

His architectural career began early, and by eighteen he was articled to the office of an architect and surveyor; after serving with the Royal Air Force during the First World War he was made an Associate of the RIBA in 1920. There is a reference to Hampstead Garden Suburb architect T.M Wilson in Winbourne’s papers and this may be how he came to work on the Suburb.

Winbourne worked on the Suburb from 1935-37, and, in different ways, his houses reflect the architectural trends of that period. He designed all of the houses on Lytton Close. Lying tucked away, Lytton Close is a delight to stumble upon, made all the more unexpected by its contrast with the surrounding streets. With their flat roofs, glazed rooftop pavilions, balconies and brilliant white external render, the houses  are a confident and accomplished expression of the Modern architectural principles which were beginning to become more widespread in Britain at the time, having already enjoyed some popularity in continental Europe. Indeed, when viewed on a bright, sunny day, the houses of Lytton Close, especially with their provision for rooftop sunbathing, give off an almost Mediterranean air. Architectural historian Finn Jensen describes Lytton Close as possibly ‘the best example of middle-class Modernism in this country’.

Winbourne also designed a few houses nearby, including Nos 36 and 38 Linden Lea which frame the entrance to Lytton Close. These two are quite Modern in some ways with their balconies, Crittall windows and strong horizontal emphasis. However the brick walls and pitched roof acknowledge the streetscape of Linden Lea. These houses are typical of many built in this period of rapidly expanding suburbs, combining some of the elegance of the Modern aesthetic with a degree of pragmatism – using bricks as they were widely available and used, pitched roofs to allow for the British climate – which allowed them to be built at scale.

Elsewhere in London, Winbourne worked on larger developments including Cheviot House on Commercial Road for textile merchants Kornberg and Segal; attractive, modern apartments at Kew Bridge Court built in 1936, now substantially remodelled; and a factory at Wembley for Charles Kinloch & Co. Ltd., now demolished.

Designed in 1937, Cheviot House was the focus of a recent campaign by various local and national groups including the Twentieth Century Society seeking to protect what is seen as “one of the best remaining examples of a flatted factory in its area and time period,” with its corner plot accentuated by a striking steel-framed fenestration treatment.

Winbourne was still practising as an architect into the early 1940s, however he seems thereafter to have taken up lodgings with his brother and his brother’s wife. He died in 1947, aged just 54.

References

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