William Binnie

Who is William Binnie?

William Bryce Binnie FRIBA was a Scottish architect.

Binnie studied at the Glasgow School of Art, where he obtained a Gold Medal and spent a year Italy on a travel scholarship. In 1910 he moved to New York to work at Warren & Wetmore, where amongst other buildings, he worked on some of the detailings of the interior of Grand Central Station. In 1913 he returned to Britain to work as a draughtsman under Leonard Martin.

Binnie served in the Army during World War I, eventually attaining the rank of major. After peace broke up, he took up a position at the Imperial War Graves Commission, spending much of his time in France and Belgium designing memorials, including the one at Nieuwpoort in West Flanders. He was admitted to RIBA in 1919 as an Associate, and became a Fellow in 1925.

In 1927 he set up a practice with fellow Scot Claude Ferrier in Westminster and together the two worked on buildings including:

81 New Bond Street

Extension to the National Temperance Hospital, London

The West and East Stands of Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, London

After Ferrier's death in 1935 Binnie continued the practice alone.