George Thomas Hine


George Thomas Hine FRIBA was an English architect. His prolific output included new county asylums for Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, East Sussex and Worcestershire, as well as extensive additions to many others.

Biography

Son of Thomas Chambers Hine of Nottingham, with whom he studied from 1858, and was in partnership from 1867 to 1891.
Hine specialised in asylum architecture, and his paper to the RIBA in 1901 still provides a valuable review of asylum design and planning. In 1887, after winning the competition for the enormous new LCC asylum at Claybury, Essex, he established his practise in London. This was strengthened by his experience as Consulting Architect to the Commissioners in Lunacy, a post which he held from 1897, succeeding Charles Henry Howell. He was a frequent entrant for asylum competitions, winning his first, for Nottingham Asylum, in 1875. During the 1880s and 1890s he entered ten asylum competitions – winning five – and was assessor for four others. He designed and saw completed four major LCC asylums housing over 2,000 patients each, and his prolific output included new county asylums for Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Surrey, East Sussex and Worcestershire, as well as extensive additions to many others.

Architectural style

Hine's asylum designs had several distinguishing features that can be used to identify any of his many projects. All were built in red brick and had grey stonework. His later designs often feature a polychrome white/red brick pattern, especially for window mullions, although this was a relatively common architectural detail at the time and not exclusive to Hine. Hine was an early exponent of the 'echelon' design of asylums which he deployed at Claybury.

Works

Works included: