Thomas & Thomas: Our story

The Thomas name is steeped in the relatively recent history of the development of London as Architects, Surveyors and as Civil and Structural Engineers.  It is the surname of five brothers and cousins from an extended part of the Thomas family.

During the second half of the 19^th Century they held various positions of professional responsibility. They were each pioneering new designs in buildings and civil structures in London and the N.W. London Home Counties. Notably, Edwin Thomas was the Chief Surveyor to the Metropolitan Waterways Authority, Barnabus Thomas was the Chief Surveyor to the Regent’s Park Canal and Joseph Thomas was Chief Surveyor to the Grand Junction Canal Company.

Our archives contain many documents including drawings and building contracts of various building works and house designs generally dating from around 1899 until around the 1930’s some 125 to nearly 100 years ago.  These documents give an extraordinary insight into building construction and engineering innovation and design of that time.

Early records

The earliest record of the name Thomas & Thomas is July 1899 taken off a date-stamp on a pencil sketch drawing of a new cottage and stables located in Kensal Rise, London W10.  We have many other drawings such as for the earth embankment at Black Park, Iver, Bucks, a new canal bridge in Islington, and of new houses and bungalows particularly of art-deco 1930’s design in N.W. London.

Foxton Inclined Plane

One main project which was under construction during 1899 was the renowned Inclined Plane at Foxton near to Watford Gap in Leicestershire.  The purpose of the Inclined Plane was to transport barges in water filled caissons literally up the hillside to bypass a flight of locks, which would have reduced the time taken to navigate this section to just a few minutes, instead of a few hours.

Unfortunately, the Inclined Plane was not to be a commercial success due to the advent of rail transport.  The inclined plane fell into disuse, but the design and the engineering were highly successful and it became known as the “Thomas Lift” and there are many notable working examples in Northern France and Belgium.

Image: Foxton Inclined Plane, opened in 1900

The next generation

The five Thomas brothers and cousins all had passed away during the 1920’s and a surviving spouse Miss Alice Thomas sold the business to Mr James Gillis, who was an Architect and Surveyor.  He owned Thomas & Thomas as a Practice of Architects & Surveyors at No.221 Edgware Road Paddington W2, and then moved to No.142 Sussex Gardens W2 during the war years, and then at No.16 Sale Place London W2 until his untimely death in 1965.

Mr Gillis resided in the Pinner and Northwood areas, hence the designing of numerous houses in these areas during their development era of the 1920’s and 1930’s, nowadays affectionately known as Metroland.

The 1960s

Mr Ron Callard was the newly appointed junior partner in 1965 and he therefore became Sole Principal and in 1975 he moved the business to a new home at No. 72 Princes Square London W2.  His son Mr Clive Callard started in 1977 and he then joined into partnership in 1991.

There had been a succession of apprentices joining and leaving over many recent years rather too many to name individually and the business continues to serve the West End and Greater London and into the near Home Counties.

In July 1998 Thomas & Thomas was joined by Janet Cotterell as Cotterell Thomas & Thomas based at 6A Love Lane, Pinner for a ten year period until 2008, again highly successful in architectural design.  More specialisms came along such as historic buildings, health and safety, fire precautions, and eco-design and the business successfully embraced them all. The business moved on to London Road, Isleworth for a short time and then found a new home at 30 Green Lane, Northwood.

Thomas & Thomas today

We were then joined by grandson, Mr Jonny Callard, who graduated in Building Surveying and became a Chartered Surveyor, followed closely by Mr George Charalambous. The business moved back to its roots in the West End. Mr Clive Callard then retired with Jonny and George taking leadership as Directors, based now in offices in the old leather market area of Southwark, London SE1.

Branching out

Today, Thomas & Thomas are involved in projects up and down the country. Our agile team are able to provide expert guidance and management services operating from our London office. Technology and transport ensure that our reach is further and our portfolio broader – and our team is growing.

The future

125 years on we hold true to our roots. As per our forebearers, whether devising new concepts in engineering or proposing the latest technology in building development, we look for appropriate solutions for the task in hand. We strive for excellence and draw upon innovation and smart ideas to discover modern day responses for the building challenges of today, tomorrow and the future.