Liberia’s pre-eminent architect was born in 1932, in Clay-Ashland, Liberia, to Rev. Walker D. Richards and his wife. Richards attended the College of West Africa, graduating in 1951. He left Liberia the following year for further studies at Kendall College, Evanston, Illinois, and at Chicago Technical Institute.
Winston Richards began his professional career in 1958, as a Junior Architect at the Department of Public Works, rose to lead architect and project manager, and was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Works in 1971, while also a partner in the architectural firm of Milton and Richards, with Aaron Milton.
Richards was working in the United States when he was called home by President Tubman to design the National True Whig Party headquarters, his masterpiece, the E.J. Roye Building. (Roye was Liberia’s fifth president) The building unfortunately, was destroyed during the war.
- Winston Richards’ large portfolio of projects also includes:
- The Roberts International Airport Terminal (destroyed during the war)
- The University of Liberia Fendall Campus (destroyed during the war)
- The Liberia Industrial Free Zone
- E.J. Roye Building (destroyed during the war)
- The Department of Treasury Office Tower
- John F. Kennedy Medical Center
- Unity Conference Center and Hotel Africa, Virginia, Liberia
- The Gabriel Tucker Bridge
- The Liberia-Sierra Leone road link
- Other rural roads and highways throughout Liberia
- Matadi Housing Estate
- New Kru Town Housing Estate
In his forty year-career, he designed over 500 private residences in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Southern France, the United States and Switzerland.
Richards died on October 20, 2002, at the age of 70, and was buried in his hometown of Clay-Ashland.