Herbert Welch was a prolific architect, designing some 170 houses on the Suburb, some in association with the various partners he worked with over his career, including Clifford Hollis, Felix Lander and N. F. Cachemaille-Day.
 

Welch was associated with the Suburb for a longer period than any of his contemporaries. He joined Unwin early in his career at his office at Wyldes farm in 1908 before setting up independent practice in 1910. In 1951, he took over role of Consultant Architect to the Trust after J. C. S. Soutar passed away and only a few years before his own death.

Some of his early work on the Suburb is of outstanding quality, such his houses on Corringham Road (Nos 73-91) and Nos. 5-14 Denman Drive, notable for their fine brickwork and detailing. Having worked on the Suburb at its beginning, Welch had an intrinsic understanding of its character and his work always demonstrates a sensitivity towards the setting of his buildings and the wider townscape. This is true both when working on groups of houses like Wordsworth Walk and Coleridge Walk, or detached houses such as 27 Hampstead Way. He built a fine pair of houses at 5 and 6 Turner Drive, which display Greek Revival touches, one of them for his own occupation. Nos. 99-101 Hampstead Way is a flamboyant asymmetrical pair in his Early English manner.

Welch, together with various partners, was responsible for many buildings outside of the Suburb. Between 1908 and 1915 Welch designed the Arts and Crafts parades of shops on Golders Green Road together with Lloyd’s Bank in 1921, achieving a harmonious piece of townscape. The offices for Crawford’s Advertising Agency at 233 High Holborn, built in 1930, designed in collaboration with the painter Frederick Etchells, was one of the earliest examples of a Modernist office block in Britain. In 1935 he designed Park Royal Station and Parade, demonstrating that he could design just as assuredly in Modernist style.

The size and variety of Welch’s practice was remarkable, with large swathes of London owing their appearance to him. Welch can be considered one of the principle contributors to the ambience and aesthetic of ‘Metro-land’.