Connell, Amyas Douglas (1901–1980) By Rendel, Sally
The New Zealand-born architect Amyas Connell was responsible for a number of strikingly modern buildings, mainly houses, in 1930s England. The first of these was the gleaming white High and Over at Amersham, Buckinghamshire, for Sir Bernard Ashmole (1894–1988), which is recognized as the first major modern movement house in England. In practice with Basil Ward (1902–1976), and joined later by Colin Lucas (1906–1984), he worked mainly on private house projects, experimenting with concrete construction to create clean-lined buildings with generous glazing. During the post-war period he completed a number of fine modern buildings in Africa, including the Aga Khan Memorial Hospital in Nairobi (1962).
Amyas Connell was born on June 23, 1901, in Eltham, New Zealand. He was the second of six children of Nigel Douglas Connell (1873–1951), who was of Scottish extraction, and his wife, Gertrude, née Weber, (1873–50), who was born in Germany. He was educated at Stafford High School until 1916. In 1919 he was articled to Young & Fearn, an architectural practice in Wellington. Lessons through practice were supplemented by the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) professional course.