The Practice was formed in 1850 by William Young. William Young undertook many buildings of national interest during his career, most notably the Municipal Offices in Glasgow and the War Office in Whitehall.

Clyde Young joined his father's Practice at the beginning of this century, initially to continue work on the War Office. During this period other commissions of interest were the Indian Hall, Westbury Manor, University College at Southampton and the Imperial Service College and Chapel at Windsor.

Bernard Engle was born in Hamburg. In the early 1920's he studied architeccture at the Munich TH, then in 1925 he worked in New York with Ernest Flagg before joining his father's architectual practice in Hamburg. There he designed a number of villas, flats and conversions on the Alster. In 1935 he came to England where he joined in practice with Clyde Young, with whom he designed a number of private houses and retail developments in London and Paris. After the war the Practice undertook a major conversion of houses into flats at Hyde Park Gardens; the new main staircase at the National Liberal Club; the Vauxhall Gardens at the Festival of Britain; the Margaret MacMillan college in Bradford and the headquarters of the Civil Service Clerical Association in Balham. Following Clyde Young's retirement the Practice adopted Bernard Engle's name.

Bernard Engle Architects & Planners enjoyed a period of major growth and underwent a change of direction in the sixties. The appointment to redevelop Bradford City Centre was the first in a series of commissions which established the Practice as one of the leading firms in the country. New civic centres in Droylsden and Barrow-in-Furness as well as numerous town centre redevelopments, including Burnley, Lewisham, Salisbury and Staines, reinforced this position. The Practice was also responsible for the first major edge-of-town retail complex at Brent Cross, which set a new direction in retail development in the country.