Obituary

Norman Alexander Royce OBE.

Norman Royce was born in 1915 and was elected a Fellow of the Institute in 1949. He was actively involved in promoting arbitration and the work of the Institute until his retirement in 1998. He studied architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic and at the Architectural Association and became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1940 and Fellow in 1955. He travelled extensively and had a great interest in Moslem and Hindu architecture.

Michael Wilkey, of Royce, Butterfield & Wilkey, architects, and current Master of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators, writes:

It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Norman Royce on the 17 September 2002 at the age of 87. ―Norman was a well respected character in both the City of London and the professions in which he was involved. Having trained as an architect before the war he started in practice in Beckenham with Lawrence Butterfield, which was then disrupted by the outbreak of WW2. Having already obtained his pilot’s licence Norman was sent to Canada for fighter pilot training, which then took him to being involved in the latter part of the Battle of Britain and in India. He went on to Bomber Command and took part in many raids over Germany. He resumed his architectural practice after the war in Gray’s Inn, where he continued until his retirement, having undertaken many prestigious projects.

Norman was a Vice-President of the RIBA and chaired the arbitration panel for many years. He became President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 1957-58 and was later to become President of the London Court of International Arbitration. He was the founding Chairman of the motor industry conciliation and arbitration panel. Norman was a founding member of both the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators and Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects and was to become Master of five Livery Companies. Norman was a source of great encouragement to others and his good humoured advice will be missed by many who knew him.