Residence
The embassy's residence is located in Parque Batlle at Jorge Canning 2491, named after George Canning, British prime minister in 1827 who had supported Uruguayan independence. [1] : 140 The site formerly served as the embassy. [2] The site had been selected by Cecil Simpson, an architect with the Office of Works, in 1923. Simpson had arrived in Montevideo to arrange purchase of a mansion for use as a legation in the country but had not found one suitable so proposed the purchase of land and the construction of a new building. [1] : 140
Simpson found a collection of seven adjoining plots that he considered suitable, totalling 3,400 square metres (37,000 sq ft) and received approval to purchase them. One owner refused to sell but the remaining six plots, totalling 2,850 square metres (30,700 sq ft), were in British hands by the end of 1923, at a cost of around £9,000. [3]
Simpson asked Montevideo-based British firm Adams Broad and Company to act as local architects for the Office of Works, that would design the legation. He left them a list of rooms of specified sizes that the Office of Works would include in their design. [3] The Office of Works design was to be carried out by Richard Allison and junior colleagues F. L. W. Cloux and Thrift Reavell. [1] : 140 Rather than waiting for the design to arrive from London, Adams Broad seized the initiative and prepared their own design which they sent to the Office of Works. This was around 25% larger in floorplan than Simpson had specified and the Office of Works, which disagreed with the increased size, amended the design. The Office of Works' design changes were opposed by the British minister in Montevideo, Claude Mallet, who complained that reductions in room sizes would have adverse effects on the use of the building for dances; he received some support in this from the Secretary of the Office of Works Lionel Earle. [3]
Another complication to the design was the question of whether a porte-cochère was necessary to provide protection from rain for those disembarking carriages or cars at the main entrance. This would have added £300-400 to the construction cost. Simpson had specified a porte-cochère in his original report but Allison was opposed, noting that a balcony over the entrance provided some protection. Earle and the First Commissioner of Works, Viscount Peel, also opposed the inclusion of a porte-cochère. The Chief Clerk of the Foreign Office Hubert Montgomery and the new minister in Montevideo Ernest Scott were keen advocates for inclusion. Scott had refused to host Edward, Prince of Wales in the existing legation buildings during a 1925 visit as he considered them insufficient. The matter reached George V who, in October, asked the Foreign Secretary to look into the matter "in the hope that fitting accommodation for his Majesty's representative may be secured". [3]
The final design of the legation was completed before the end of 1925; it included a larger drawing room and hall to accommodate dances but omitted the porte-cochère. [3] [1] : 140 Allison noted that "The aim in designing our new Legation has been to obtain dignity with a certain degree of richness particularly in the detail of the pilasters but avoiding the over-elaboration of the more important local buildings". [3]
The neo-classical villa, clad in white stucco, was operational by 7 December 1927. It cost around £34,500 to build, in excess of the original estimate of £33,000. [3] The legation was inaugurated on George V's Official Birthday, 4 June 1928. [1] : 140 Viscount Davison visited the legation in 1943 and recommended the purchase of a vacant adjacent plot measuring 1 acre (4,000 m2; 44,000 sq ft) to prevent it from being built on. This was carried out in 1946 at a cost of £21,000 and used to extend the embassy garden. [3] [1] : 140 The gardens are now extensive and they, and a terrace adjacent to the residence, are used to hold drinks receptions. [1] : 142–143 The residence holds a painting of the city by Uruguayan artist Juan Manuel Besnes e Irigoyen. [1] : 140 The building survived a 1977 Foreign Office proposal for its sale and replacement by a more "commercial and functional" structure, perhaps built in the gardens. [3]
