A View of E.J. Roye from Johnson St.

Monrovia, Liberia

E. J. Roye Building

 
The E. J. Roye building was named after Edwin J. Roye Liberia's fifth president and chief justice, and speaker of the House.  You can read more about Roye's  presidency at TLC Africa Presidents of Liberia Page.

The E. J. Roye Building was designed by Liberian Architect Winston Richards who began his professional career in 1958, as a Junior Architect, at the Ministry of Public Works.

The story is that the late President William V.S. Tubman called Winston in the United States and told him that the budget had been past for the erection of the national party headquarter  and that President Tubman wanted him to design the building.  On his way back to Liberia, it is said that the beginning ideas of the building was sketched on a unused napkin from his dinner on the plane.
In 1971, Winston Richards was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Works, a position he held until April 1980.

During his years at Public Works, he worked as  project manager and lead architect on many landmark projects in Liberia, including:

  • The Roberts International Airport Expansion Project
  • The University of Liberia, Fendall Campus
  • The Liberia Industrial Free Zone
  • E.J. Roye Building
  • The Department of Treasury Office Tower
  • John F. Kennedy Hospital
  • Unity Conference Center, Virginia and Principal Architect for Hotel Africa
  • The UN Drive, Johnson Street (Gabriel Tucker) Bridge
  • The Liberia Sierra Leone road link
  • Other rural roads and highways throughout Liberia

Winston Richards contributions to Liberia landscape include, Matadi Housing Project Estate and New Kru Town Estate. 

In his forty years careers, he designed over 500 private residences in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Mauritania, Southern France, the United States and Swaziland.
Winston Richards died on October 20, 2002, at Catholic Hospital in Monrovia during a brief visit from the United States. He was buried in his hometown of Clay-Ashland, Montserrado County,  Liberia on November 9th, 2002.  He was 70th years old (1932-2002).

TLC Africa

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