Charles Cowles-Voysey

Who was Charles Cowles-Voysey?

Charles Cowles-Voysey was born in London, England on 24 June 1889 and died there on 10 April 1981. He was the son of Charles Voysey and was responsible for the design of Kingsley Hall which included a main hall also used for worship, and five rooftop cells for community volunteers.

John Brandon-Jones worked for Charles Cowles-Voysey, became a partner in the business and finally took over the firm.

Charles Voysey was one of the first to use concrete as concrete rather than disguised as a traditional building material. The style of the father passed to the son who was asked to design Children's House and Kingsley Hall. This came after many hours soulful discussions with Muriel Lester about how to bring the very best to the poor of the East End. Indeed Kingsley Hall was built to bring Heaven to Earth and originally had six small monastic type cells on the top floor where volunteers would stay and dedicate their days to community work. Both buildings use employed a large amount of concrete, which is openly on display.