Verner Owen Rees

Verner Owen Rees FRIBA (1886–1966) was a British Architect. He was an architectural partner with Frederick Milton Harvey at Rees & Harvey in London, UK.^[1]

Verner trained with Caroe & Passmore. Assistant to Lutyens 1910–12, then to New York. During the First World War he served in the Artist's Rifles.^[2] From 1921 to 1925 Verner taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and became Principal in 1929.^[3] He died in Parthenay, France on 7 November 1966.^[4]

He was responsible for the design of many buildings in the 1930s including County Offices, Kendal in 1939,^[5][6] the 1937 Library at Swansea University,^[7] the new London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine building with the entrance on Keppel Street opened in1929,^[2][8] the library wing to the north-east and garden wing of Aberdare Hall at Cardiff University,^[9] the 1950s library building at the University of Birmingham which has since been demolished,^[10] and worked on commissions for Soissons Memorial on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.^[11] Verner also won the competition to design the new offices for Harrow Council but it was never completed^[12] and was the runner up in the competition to design the new RIBA building in 1932.^[13]

He authored the book The Plan Requirements of Modern Buildings and journal articles including Informal Architectural Notes on the Planning of University Libraries.^[14]