Felix James Samuely
Felix James Samuely (1902-1959) of Felix J. Samuely and Partners
c.1934 Appointed by J. L. Kier and Co to carry out the structural calculations for the spiral ramp of the penguin pool at the London Zoo (designed by Berthold Lubetkin).
Samuely subsequently joined J. L. Kier & Co. on a permanent basis.
1959 Obituary [1]
THE death occurred on January 22 of Felix James Samuely, B.Sc., M.I.C.E. Mr. Samuely was a consulting engineer specialising in structural design, and was one of the country's most original and creative engineers in the lighter structural field.
Mr. Samuely was born in Vienna in 1902 and studied in Berlin, where he obtained his degree of Dipl. Ing. He returned to Vienna to work in an architect's office for a year, and then worked in Berlin for some years.
He came to England in 1933, and worked with a firm of contractors for a short time, after which he started practice as a consulting engineer. Among contracts for which he acted as structural engineer are technical colleges, schools, blocks of fiats, offices, factories and hospitals in various parts of the United Kingdom.
His most recent buildings of special interest include the new United States Embassy in London, a church in Connecticut constructed entirely in pre-cast concrete, the British Pavilions at the 1958 Brussels Universal and International Exhibition, L.C.C. blocks of fiats of fourteen eighteen and twenty-five storeys, and the development of St. Thomas Hospital area.
Although the firm which bears his name has built up quite an extensive practice we think he will probably be even better known to many engineers from his contributions to the various learned societies, for he had the gift of expounding complicated ideas in a simple way. At the Institution of Structural Engineers centenary conference last October for instance, his paper on "Skin Structures" gave an admirable review of these complicated three-dtmensional structures, which are so characteristic of present-day trends. A part of this paper was, in fact, published in THE ENGINEER of October 17 last.
Mr. Samuely's own particular contribution to this trend was a considerable one, exploiting the "folded slab" principle, which was explained in his paper. A particularly graceful example of a steel structure utilising this principle was the Federation of British Industries pavilion at the Brussels exhibition. The three spires of the British Government's pavilion at Brussels, which were of timber, were also folded slabs. Both pavilions were, of course, to Mr. Samuely's designs. He was also active in the structural work for the Festival of Britain, being responsible for the "Skylon" and the Transport Pavilion.
Another novel structural development which he fostered by practical design, and by a paper at the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1952, was a form of pre-stressed concrete construction using both pre-cast and in situ techniques. Pre-stressing was concentrated into the pre-cast elements which, because of their expense, were kept to the minimum size, and the structure was completed by relatively economical in situ work. These examples do not by any means exhaust the inventiveness which he showed in design.
The class of work in which Mr. Samuely specialised brought him into close co-operation with many architects. He was sometimes quite outspoken in his criticisms of some architects' methods - we can recall a condemnation of "pilotis" - but was, nevertheless, popular amongst them, doubtless because he understood their problems, for the architectural expression of engineering structures was one of his special interests.
1959 Obituary [2]
FELIX JAMES SAMUELY, Dipl. Ing., B.Sc.(Eng.), who was born in Vienna on 3 February, 1902, died on 22 January, 1959.
Educated at the Kaiser Friederich Gymnasium, Berlin, he studied engineering from 1919-23 at the Technische Hochschule, Charlottenburg, where he obtained his Diploma in Engineering (Dipl. Ing.). In 1924 he entered the office of Dr Bauer, in Vienna, where he was engaged as Chief Engineer. In 1927 he worked under the designer, G. E. Dellschau. From 1929 he was a partner in the firm of Berger and Samuely, consulting engineers, Berlin, where he specialized in steel and reinforced concrete construction. From 1931-33 Mr Samuely was consultant on the welding of structural steel to the Russian Government in Moscow. In 1933 he came to England and in collaboration with Mr C. W. Hamann, M.I.C.E., started his practice as a consulting engineer. Of his early work three buildings are outstanding - the De la Warr Pavilion at Bexhill; Simpsons, Piccadilly; and the block of flats at Palace Gate, London. From 1942-44 he was engaged on the development of welded tubular steel construction, including a film studio at Ealing, a factory building for Truvox Ltd, and aircraft hangars.
Since 1945 Mr Samuely was actively engaged in the development of composite construction and he illustrated his early work in a Paper presented at the Institution in 1952. Among the buildings carried out should be noted the factory at Bristol for Colodense Ltd, and the technical colleges at Hatfield and Wigan. At the 1951 Festival of Britain he was consulting engineer for the Transport Pavilion, the Power and Production Building, and the “Skylon”. He was co-author of a Paper on the “Skylon” which was presented to the Institution in 1952 and for which he was awarded a Telford premium. He also pioneered space structures and in particular, folded slab construction either in concrete, steel, or timber. His latest work includes the Government Pavilion and the British Industries Pavilion at the Brussels Exhibition and the new American Embassy in London. He was the Author of a number of books and articles and was well known for his lectures. He was a Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers, a Member of the Institution of Welding, and a Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Elected an Associate Member in 1944, he was transferred to the class of Members in 1954. He is survived by his widow and mother.