Leverkus, Gertrude

Gertrude Leverkus (1899 to 1976). She studied as a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture at University College London from 1916 to 1919. She was the only woman taking her finals among 500 men. From 1919, she worked with architect Horace Field in London and studied in the evenings. With her thesis on 'The Architecture of Spain as a Witness to Her History', she became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1922. In private practice until the Second World War, Leverkus did war work as an inspector of stately homes for wartime use.  She became a housing architect in 1943 for West Ham Town Planning Department, having gained her certificate in 1925. From 1948 to 1960, she was back in private practice working on both Crawley and Harlow New Towns and was solely responsible for the Swiss Cottage Station shopping parade and flats in north London. She was a Governor of the Building School of Brixton. (G.Leverkus, 'Auntie Gertrude's Life', 1976, unpublished autobiography, The Women's Library).