Holden's childhood in Bolton was not easy. His father's drapery business went bankrupt, and his mother died when he was eight. After leaving school, he worked first as a railway store clerk, and as a chemical laboratory assistant.
His brother-in-law, Frederick Green, a land-surveyor, employed Holden at the age of twenty to be apprenticed to E. W. Leeson, a Manchester architect. He studied at the Manchester School of Art and Technical College, with such success that he soon was soon teaching. Around 1896, Holden revealed his grasp of architectural form in designs he submitted to the Building News Designing Club, using the pseudonym 'The Owl'.
Holden's friends in Manchester included artist Francis Dodd (1874-1949) and Dodd's brother-in-law, the etcher and draughtsman Muirhead Bone who, with his brother, James, remained lifelong friends.
Developing his career as an architect, Holden undertook some major assignments. In 1907, he designed the British Medical Association Building on the Strand in London, now Zimbabwe House.
London Transport executive Frank Pick engaged Holden as architect for several projects, including the southward extension of the Northern Line to Morden in 1925-6 and a new headquarters in 1928-30. A revival of 18th century monumental styles then dominated British architecture. In contrast, Holden's design for the 55 Broadway headquarters, over St James's Park tube station, was original and modern: not just a building but a complete design. He commissioned sculptures for the exterior of the building from contemporary artists - Jacob Epstein, Eric Gill, Eric Aumonier, Henry Moore, A.H Gerrard, Samuel Rabinovich and Allan Wyon. The most controversial - considered indecent at the time - were the two groups by Epstein, Day and Night. His attention to this kind of detail typefied Holden's commitment to total design.
The 1930-5 Piccadilly Line extension both north and west, gave Pick and Holden the chance to develop a new type of station. Aiming for a striking and inviting modern appearance, they adapted for English surroundings simple, geometric styles and exposed brickwork they saw on the Continent. This led to their 'classic' style of Underground architecture, using clean, simple forms - cylinders, curves, rectangles - often decorating the interiors with brightly coloured tiles. All parts of a building were to be harmonious, all aspects integrated into the design. This included interior and exterior lighting, platform seats, clocks, kiosks, ticket machines, even litter bins.
Sudbury Town first demonstrated this style, opening on 19 July 1931. At least 17 other similar stations soon followed. A number of them - including Enfield West (now Oakwood), Southgate, Arnos Grove and the original Sudbury Town - were in 1971 designated as of "special architectural interest", as was the 55 Broadway headquarters building.
Sir Charles Holden's great-niece Dr Jean Ward in 1999 presented to the RIBA Architectural Library Drawings Collection many topographical drawings, family photographs and ephemera by or relating to him. They joined a large body of material acquired in the 1970s at the closure of his partnership, Adams, Holden & Pearson.
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