ALUMNI PROFILE: RICHARD WOOLF – INDUSTRIAL DESIGNER, ARCHITECT, BUILDING HISTORIAN.
We made contact with Richard after he attended the ‘Class of ‘75’ reunion, jointly organised by his sister, Nicola Woolf. Nicola suggested Richard would provide an interesting Alumni profile – she was right!
Over to Richard…
It is a pleasure to provide a reflection as a past student of Richmond School and Sixth Form College on my education, career and influences as an industrial designer, architect and building historian.
I completed A-levels in 1980, being one of only a few students who had spent their entire education in Richmond. From the Church of England’s Dundas Street infants school, primary school on Lombards Wynd, followed by a short walk over Station Road to Richmond Old Grammar School, I finally arrived at Darlington Road and later the old Sixth Form College.
The Church of England buildings are no longer in educational use, but on the occasions I revisit the town my early school buildings still evoke strong childhood emotions, especially Church Wynd, into the burial ground of St Mary the Virgin.
The early 1970s witnessed comprehensive education becoming established nationwide. The friction between grammar and secondary modern teaching methods and differing pedagogy within the two cultures was still settling down to an uneasy truce in Richmond. There were visible manifestations of this culture clash. Teachers were either in tweed or denim, whilst on the playing field, cricket or football identified class allegiances.
Never a great scholar, my passion for art and design in the final years coalesced in two years of uninterrupted occupation within the art rooms of the upper school. Previously the girls’ High School, this minor modernist gem from the 1940s was both inspirational as a place of study and an introduction to twentieth century architecture. A rare example of the 1930s Modern Movement in northern England it offset the classic perfection of the Georgian architecture of Richmond. The contradiction between historic and modern architecture, two hundred years apart, has continued to inform my working life as an architect.
My educational journey after Richmond didn’t start particularly well, beginning on a course at Loughborough University for which I had little aptitude. After one year it was time to quickly switch to studying industrial design at Leicester, then a polytechnic and now De Montfort University. Graduating in 1984 and after a previous summers work experience in a major London design studio, I was fortunate to be fully employed in a large multi disciplined design practice working initially on airports and railway stations, still the largest projects of my career.
After retraining as an architect in my thirties at Kingston University, I established my own studio with my wife in 1995 which continues to provide a varied range of design and architectural projects. An evolving interest in building history saw my return to formal education, this time at the University of Cambridge from which I graduate in November 2023.
On reflection, the skills and values I learnt at Richmond School and the remarkable architectural and urban culture of the town have been a constant influence. The enquiring nature of education at Richmond School and its ability to take you in different directions continues to be fundamental in my life and work.
Thank you to Richard for providing such a fascinating insight into education in Richmond in the 1970s, set against the backdrop of the varied architecture of the town. I wonder how many of our current students are aware of the architectural history and importance of some of the buildings they are taught in!
You can find out more about Richard and his architectural practice, McDaniel Woolf, by going to this link:
