Edward Brian O'Rorke (1901 – 1974) was a New-Zealand-born British

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...

er.

Early life and education

Brian O'Rorke was born at

Fendalton Fendalton is a suburb of Christchurch, in the South Island of New Zealand. History Fendalton was originally known as Fendall Town, named after the original settler of the land, Walpole Chesshyre Fendall (1830–1913). Fendall emigrated from Y ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, on 14 June 1901, the third son of Edward Dennis O'Rorke (1865–1918), and Amy Clifford Rhodes (1865–1922). His father, Dennis, was an expert horseman, particularly in polo, racing and the hunting circles, and had been Reader of the House of Representatives and Record Clerk for several years in the early 1890s. Paternal grandfather, Sir

Maurice O'Rorke Sir George Maurice O’Rorke (2 May 1830 – 25 August 1916) was a New Zealand politician, representing (as George O’Rorke) the Auckland seat of Onehunga, and later Manukau, and was Speaker of the House of Representatives. He was a committed ...

(1830–1916) had served as Member of Parliament for Onehunga and Manukau from 1861 to 1902, as well as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1879 to 1890. Maternal grandfather,

Robert Heaton Rhodes Robert Heaton Rhodes (1815 – 1 June 1884) was a New Zealand politician, who represented the Akaroa electorate from 1871 to 1874, when he resigned. He was elected unopposed in 1871. Born in 1815 in Rotherham, in the English county of York ...

(1815–1884), had been a

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

sheep farmer, member of the Canterbury Provincial Council from 1853 to 1874, member of the Executive Council from 1869 to 1870, Member of Parliament for Akaroa in the 1870s, and co-founder of the

New Zealand Shipping Company The New Zealand Shipping Company (NZSC) was a shipping company whose ships ran passenger and cargo services between Great Britain and New Zealand between 1873 and 1973. A group of Christchurch businessmen founded the company in 1873, similar ...

and the Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Company. Having resided in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

from about 1902, Dennis, Amy and family moved to England in December 1911. There, O'Rorke attended

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the village of Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,200 pupils, between the ages of 13 and ...

. Whilst at school with younger brother Forbes during the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, their brother Captain Dennis Clifford O'Rorke, ,

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

, was killed in action in March 1918; brother Lieutenant Maurice Heaton O'Rorke,

12th Royal Lancers The 12th (Prince of Wales's) Royal Lancers was a cavalry regiment of the British Army first formed in 1715. It saw service for three centuries, including the First World War and the Second World War. The regiment survived the immediate post-war ...

, suffered severe head wounds whilst carrying out a daring reconnaissance in October; and, soon after

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, their father Dennis, Superintendent of Remount Depots, died on 9 December from internal injuries caused in a jumping accident at

Melton Mowbray Melton Mowbray () is a town in Leicestershire, England, north-east of Leicester, and south-east of Nottingham. It lies on the River Eye, known below Melton as the Wreake. The town had a population 27,670 in 2019. The town is sometimes promo ...

. The following year, on Wellington College's Speech Day, 21 June 1919, the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

, , presented E B O'Rorke with the Batchelor Drawing Prize for Special Subject. Amy, sister Cicely, Maurice, Forbes and other relatives returned to New Zealand, landing in late October. Thereafter, O'Rorke studied engineering at Jesus College,

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

graduating with the degree of BA in June 1922. After a return visit home to New Zealand immediately following his mother's death in Christchurch in August, he carried on architectural studies in the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest Independent school (United Kingdom), independent school of architecture in the UK and one of the most prestigious and competitive in t ...

's five year course, where, in 1926, he was awarded

RIBA The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

prizes—Bronze Medal for Recognised Schools, Certificate of Honourable Mention in relation to the Tite Prize (Design), Archibald Dawnay Scholarship— as well as examples of his work published in the Architectural Association's 1928–29 course booklet. In 1928 he received the degree of MA from

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

Career

In early professional practice, O'Rorke worked on the design of small private houses in London and the country, and in 1932 produced the design for a block of modern tenement flats erected in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

, London. He and Kenneth Peacock also submitted a design in the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

' year-long competition for the design of their new headquarters in London, underway from 1931. Of some 284 designs submitted from unidentified architects throughout Britain and the empire, in 1932

George Grey Wornum George Grey Wornum (17 April 1888 – 11 June 1957) was a British architect. Grey Wornum was born in London and educated at Bradfield College and the Slade School of Art. He studied architecture under the guidance of his uncle, Ralph Selden Wornum ...

won the award and commission, with the second award to Verner Owen Rees. O'Rorke and Peacock, won one of three third awards, alongside Percy Thomas and Ernest Prestwich, and Frank Roscoe and Duncan Wylson. Several other New Zealanders received honourable mention.

The Mayor Gallery

In April 1933, Fred Mayor and Douglas Cooper, opened The Mayor Gallery, a new modern art gallery designed by O'Rorke and Arundell Clarke, at 18 Cork Street, London. The gallery opened with an exhibition of recent painting by English, French and German artists and would go on to present the ideas of many modern artists to England for the first time;

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealism ...

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

and

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

amongst them.

RMS ''Orion''

Colin Anderson, a director of

Orient Steam Navigation Company The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

, had seen opportunity in the future of passenger ships and in the search for an architect who could assist him in his idea of RMS ''Orion'' being a truly modern

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

of the best contemporary design, had put aside a few modernist notables. He eventually found Brian O'Rorke through his friends Betty and

Ralph Rayner Brigadier Sir Ralph Herbert Rayner MBE (13 January 1896 – 17 July 1977) was a British Conservative Party politician. Rayner was commissioned into the Duke of Wellington's Regiment, in which he served as a signals officer. He was seconded to the ...

. O'Rorke had been working on ''Ashcombe Tower'', their new modern home complete with furnishings, in Devon, and suitably possessed the suite of capability that Anderson had been looking for. In August 1935, the result of O'Rorke's interior design was an open air layout, making use of removable and folding walls, sliding glass doors, and relatively enormous promenade decks to keep cooling breezes flowing through spaces passengers could relax in. Rooms without access to the deck of the ship were also made to feel breezy by being as light and uncluttered as possible. Furnishings were chosen for their clean lines, wood given matte finishes, and columns left unadorned. Moreover, the chromium and

Bakelite Polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride, better known as Bakelite ( ), is a thermosetting phenol formaldehyde resin, formed from a condensation reaction of phenol with formaldehyde. The first plastic made from synthetic components, it was developed ...

used extensively throughout the ship meant surfaces were more resistant to the wearing effects of

sea air Sea air has traditionally been thought to offer health benefits associated with its unique odor, which Victorians attributed to ozone. More recently, it has been determined that the chemical responsible for much of the odor in air along certain se ...

, a first in liners. This was a new type of functional interior that could be linked to the functionality of a ship's exterior. RMS ''Orion'' proved so successful, O'Rorke designed interiors for many more of Orient's ships. One of these was SS ''Orcades''. He knew what talent lay unused in Australasia and included Australians and New Zealanders amongst project artists and designers—

Margaret Preston Margaret Rose Preston (29 April 1875 – 28 May 1963) was an Australian painter and printmaker who is regarded as one of Australia's leading modern art, modernists of the early 20th century. In her quest to foster an Australian "national art", ...

Douglas Annand Douglas Shenton Annand (22 March 1903 – 14 December 1976) was an Australian graphic designer and artist. Early life Born at Toowoomba, Queensland, to Frederick Annand and Helen Alice Robinson. Douglas attended Tudor House School, located ...

Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...

Paul Pascoe Arnold Paul Pascoe (26 September 1908 – 11 September 1976) was a New Zealand architect. He was born in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1908; John was his twin brother. He designed airport terminal buildings for Christchurch International Airport ...

, John and Helen Hutton, Frederick Halford Coventry. He also may have seen the advantage of employing designers who intimately knew the tropical conditions in which the ship would need to carry people comfortably.

Short Empire flying boat

O'Rorke returned from RMS ''Orions maiden Mediterranean cruise to Constantinople in August 1935 to begin planning airliner interiors for

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passenger ...

, particularly the interior design of the passenger section of the twenty-eight new Short Empire flying boats then under rapid development and manufacture for the

Empire Air Mail Scheme Empire Air Mail Scheme (EAMS) was an attempt by the British Air Ministry to regain leadership of world civil aviation in the late 1930s following the establishment of The Air Mail Route from Cairo to Bagdad in the early 1920s. Conceived in 1934 ...

. His modern approach intended to set a new standard for aircraft, in contrast to the tendency for ornate passenger transport interiors of recent periods.

Buildings

His buildings include the Berkeley Hotel, London; The New Royal Observatory (now Herstmonceux Science Centre) at

Herstmonceux Herstmonceux ( , ; ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England, which includes Herstmonceux Castle. The Herstmonceux Medieval Festival is held annually in August. History The name comes from Anglo-Saxo ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

(1951-52, built 1955); a country house, Ashcombe Tower (1935) on

Haldon The Haldon Hills, usually known simply as Haldon, is a ridge of high ground in Devon, England. It is situated between the River Exe and the River Teign and runs northwards from Teignmouth, on the coast, for about until it dwindles away north ...

, near

Dawlish Dawlish is an English seaside resort town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, from the county town of Exeter and from the larger resort of Torquay. Its 2011 population of 11,312 was estimated at 13,355 in 2019. It is t ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

; and halls of residence at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

. All are in an abstracted traditional style which is reminiscent of the work of his near-contemporary,

Donald McMorran Donald Hanks McMorran RA FRIBA FSA (3 May 1904 – 6 August 1965) was an English architect who is known today for his sensitive continuation of the neo-Georgian and classical tradition in the period after the Second World War. His buildings ...

. Unbuilt designs included one for the National Theatre in London.

Personal life

On 19 January 1929, O'Rorke married illustrator and decorative artist Juliet Mabel Olga Wigan (1903–1988), elder daughter of solicitor Ernest Edward Wigan, MA, of Oakley Lodge, Weybridge, Surrey, and his wife Mabel Helen, daughter of Robert Watson Willis of Hinxton House, East Sheen, Surrey. They had four children—a son, Forbes Brian (born 1930), and three daughters: Sarah (born 1936), who married the publisher John Letts, owner of the

Folio Society The Folio Society is a London-based publisher, founded by Charles Ede in 1947 and incorporated in 1971. Formerly privately owned, it operates as an employee ownership trust since 2021. It produces illustrated hardback editions of classic fict ...

from 1971; Virginia (born 1937); and Georgia (born 1942). Juliet was at different times romantically linked to the writers

Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell ( ; 21 December 1905 – 28 March 2000) was an English novelist best known for his 12-volume work ''A Dance to the Music of Time'', published between 1951 and 1975. It is on the list of longest novels in English. Powell' ...

(of whose work she was a fan; their friendship continued until Juliet was in her eighties, when in 1983, as a great-grandmother, she visited Powell and his family) and

Malcolm Muggeridge Thomas Malcolm Muggeridge (24 March 1903 – 14 November 1990) was an English journalist and satirist. His father, H. T. Muggeridge, was a socialist politician and one of the early Labour Party Members of Parliament (for Romford, in Essex). In ...

Gallery

File:LMS 798 20160504.jpg, LMS Royal coaches: The King's day saloon File:Royal Greenwich Observatory, Herstmonceux - April 2012.jpg, The Royal Observatory, Herstmonceux File:University Park MMB V4 Derby Hall.jpg, Derby Hall, University of Nottingham File:Derby Hall - geograph.org.uk - 909522.jpg, Derby Hall File:The Berkeley Hotel.jpg, The Berkeley, Knightsbridge

References

Other references

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External links

SS Maritime

Royal Academy of Arts: Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ororke, Brian 1901 births 1974 deaths People from Christchurch 20th-century New Zealand architects New Zealand interior designers New Zealand industrial designers 20th-century British architects British interior designers Royal Designers for Industry Royal Academicians Fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture New Zealand emigrants to the United Kingdom Moorhouse–Rhodes family