History
When the old Palace of Westminster was destroyed by fire
on the 16th October 1834, a competition was announced
for the design of a new palace building. Over 97 entries
were received and in January 1836, it was announced that
the competition had been won by the 40 year-old English
architect Charles Barry. His initial design, in the modern
Neo-Gothic style, was only two-thirds the size of the
completed building and was without the 96.3 meter (316 ft)
Clock Tower that would become known as Big Ben.
As Barry’s own architectural style was more Classical than
Gothic, he asked for assistance from one of leading lights of
the neo-gothic movement, Augustus Pugin. While it is difficult
to say exactly what work can be accredited to Pugin, it’s
commonly thought that he created much of the gothic-styled
interiors of the palace and the design of the clock tower itself.
Neither man would live to see the completion of their work.
The intricate designs gave many construction difficulties:
adding a whole decade to the estimated six-year building
time and tripling the initial budget.
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