Professor Timothy Brittain-Catlin

Biography

I launched University of Cambridge Professional and Continuing Education's postgraduate apprenticeship in Architecture in 2020 and it has grown quickly to become one of the most highly regarded in the country. We set out to establish a new type of relationship between professional architectural practice and universities, and to invite our collaborating practices to play a direct role in our course.

Architecture is a regulated profession and that means that we must continuously demonstrate that we reach or exceed constantly rising national standards across all aspects of our work. Our apprentices are engaged in research and design work that spans from history and theory to urban design and sustainable building design, as well as undergoing training in teamworking and in other crucial professional proficiencies.

I qualified as an architect in 1988 and following a period in professional practice, working on building conservation and remodelling and on masterplanning, I restarted my academic career at Cambridge in 2000 with a doctorate under the supervision of Andrew Saint on the domestic architecture of A.W.N. Pugin. I am active on the casework committees and publication activities of the Twentieth Century and Victorian Societies, and I have been a member of Historic England’s national Advisory Committee.

Research topics

My most recent work has been on Edwardian architecture. In 2020 I published the first re-evaluation of Edwardian domestic architecture since the 1970s and in 2023 I wrote a short illustrated biography of Edwin Rickards, one of the most flamboyant Edwardian baroque architects. I began as a scholar of the gothic revival and I also specialise in Victorian and twentieth century house and church architecture. My other professional interests include building conservation and adaptation for contemporary needs.

Publications

Books

‘The Historical Context of Lawrence Weaver’s Writing’. In Lawrence Trevelyan Weaver, Arts & Crafts Chronicler: The Life and Work of Sir Lawrence Weaver, Lund Humphries. In production., 2025
Edwin Rickards. Liverpool University Press in association with Historic England and the Victorian Society. 158 pp. ISBN 9781837645077., 2023
The Edwardians and their Houses: the New Life of old England. Lund Humphries, London, 224 pp. ISBN 978-1-84822-268-7. Second impression 2021. Shortlisted for the William M.B. Berger Prize for British Art History., 2020

Book chapters

‘Revivalism’, in Revivalism and Architecture: Referencing and Reworking History, edited by Peter Nelson Lindfield and Dan Talkes, Taylor & Francis, 6,000 words., 2025
Two long chapters (about 24,000 words in total), with Roderick O’Donnell, on British and Irish church architecture and internal fittings, for Material Change: The Impact of Reform and Modernity on Material Religion in North-West Europe, 1780-1920, edited by Jan de Maeyer and Jan-Peter Margry, University of Leuven Press, pp. 118-139 and 216-243; plus a sole authored-section introduction, pp 213-215. ISBN 9789462702820., 2021

Journal articles

‘An Element of Apprehension: Holy Trinity, Twydall, by Arthur Bailey, 1962’ (chapter). Twentieth Century Architecture 15: Holy Houses, pp. 174-189. ISSN 978-0955668746., 2023

Magazine articles

‘Edwin Rickards: Bennett’s close friend and inspiration’. Arnold Bennett Society Newsletter, 7/3 (Winter 2023), pp. 10-21. ISSN 1362-7244., 2024
‘Hugh Walpole and the Queen Anne Style’. The Hugh Walpole Review, 2/2, Autumn 2023, pp. 44-49. ISSN 2633-8831., 2023

Other

Foreword to Architecture of Place: Culture, Community & Continuity, by John Melvin. Winterbourne: Papadakis (Academy Editions), pp. 7-9. ISBN 978 1 906506 72 8., 2022