Façade of Buckingham Palace

In 1913 the East front of Buckingham palace was refaced in Portland Stone to a design by Sir Aston Webb as a fitting backdrop for the Victoria Memorial which incorporates at its centre the vast monument by Sir Thomas Brock commemorating Queen Victoria but also includes the Dominion Gates, and the Memorial Gardens.

The overall design of the Victoria Memorial which required an ambitious urban planning scheme was that of Sir Aston Web.

The design is claimed to owe much to the grand Palladian south front of Lyme Hall near Disley in Cheshire East which was designed by the Venetian architect Giacomo Leoni (c.1686-1746).

Sir Aston Webb received the inaugural American Institute of Architects Gold Medal in 1907. The AIA Gold Medal is awarded by the Board of Directors in recognition of an architect who has produced an extensive body of work which has shaped the theory and practice of architecture. He had previously received the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1905.