Quick Facts
Biography
- For the Liverpool architect with a similar name, see Walter W. Thomas
Walter Aubrey Thomas (1864, Birkenhead, Cheshire – 1934, Wirral, Cheshire) (also known as Aubrey Thomas) was an English architect who practised from an office in Dale Street, Liverpool.For his training he was articled to the Liverpool architect Francis Doyle, and established his own independent practice in about 1876. His works consisted mainly of commercial buildings.He has been described as "the most individual Liverpool architect of the early 1900s".At least seven of his works are designated by English Heritage as listed buildings, and these are included in the list below, of which the most notable is the Grade I listed Royal Liver Building.Sharples and Pollard in the Pevsner Architectural Guides state that "his work shows admirable inventiveness and stylistic variety, as well as ambition matched by technological resourcefulness".
Key
| Grade | Criteria |
|---|---|
| Grade I | Buildings of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important. |
| Grade II* | Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. |
| Grade II | Buildings of national importance and special interest. |
Works
| Name | Location | Photograph | Date | Notes | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand House | 18 Water Street, Liverpool | c. 1893 | A new commercial building. | — | |
| Lord Street Arcade | 81–89 Lord Street, Liverpool | 1901 | The frontage is in red and white stone in Italian Gothic style.It is in three bays, each bay including a round arch, above which is a row of windows resembling a triforium, and a gable.It originally led to a glass-roofed shopping arcade. | II | |
| Brooke House | Parkgate, Cheshire | — | 1904 | A house Aubrey Thomas built for himself in "understated" Arts and Crafts style. | II |
| State Insurance Building | 14 Dale Street, Liverpool | 1906 | The building was initially symmetrical about a central tower, but it was damaged in the Second World War.The remaining part of the building has three bays, and incorporates a five-storey turret.Its architectural style is described as "flamboyant Gothic", and as "wiry, sinuous Gothic". | II | |
| Crane Building | Hanover Street, Liverpool |  | 1913–15 | This was built as a five-storey store selling musical instruments, with a theatre above it, later known as the Epstein Theatre and the Neptune Theatre.The theatre has been refurbished, and renamed the Epstein Theatre. | II |
| Dunstan Wood | Burton, Cheshire | — | 1926 | A house built by Aubrey Thomas for himself.It is entirely in concrete, including the staircase and the roof. | — |
