Edwin Roy Orchard

Edwin Roy (Ted) Orchard was a prominent Sydney architect, most known for his distinctive homes designed in the Arts and Crafts and Californian Bungalow styles.

Orchard was born in Mosman (then part of North Sydney municipality) on 22 August 1891, in a cottage called 'Lamorna', on Shadforth Street, the son of William Henry and Louise Orchard. His father was a signatory of the 540-signature petition presented to the NSW Government on 9 June 1892 for the separation of the Mosman's Ward from North Sydney Council, which led to the creation of the Borough of Mosman on 11 April 1893.

Orchard attended Sydney Boys' High School, undertook his architectural training at the Sydney Technical College, and commenced his articles under notable North Sydney architect John Burcham Clampin 1907, during which he no doubt contributed towards Clamp's considerable body of work on the north shore and further afield. His early work as a draftsman for Clamp received recognition when he won prizes in design competitions held by the New South Wales Institute of Architects in 1908 and 1911.

Orchard had opened his own practice in 1912, at an office at 68½ Pitt Street, Sydney. Among his first commissions were semi-detached houses in Roslyn Gardens, Darlinghurst, three large residences in Mosman, and a store in Redfern. He offered a wide range of architectural work, though residences are the most common, particularly in Mosman, Neutral Bay, and Cremorne. Orchard's prolific residential work was featured in an article in the August 1915 edition of the journal, Building. There his designs were described as exemplars of 'Australian Domestic Architecture', evidence of adaptation to Australian conditions. The houses featured were designed to take full advantage of their elevation to gain views of Sydney Harbour. These included the prominent hilltop residence of timber industry businessman and later Mayor of Mosman, Peter Burrows, at 6 David Street Mosman; Orchard's own residence across the road at 7 David Street; and the residence of Francis Bell at Bertha Road, Cremorne. His 1913 design for a large residence for women's apparel manufacturer Herbert Francis Ward, 'Kenilworth', at 15 Shellcove Road, Kurraba Point, with two storey balconies behind a brick-arched loggia facing the water, is another example of his harbourfront work.

Orchard's residence and other houses designed by him along David Street Mosman, the residences of Burrows, Ward, and Bell, 'Galada' at 26 Milson Road, and 'Strathmore' at 57 Cremorne Road, Cremorne Point, exhibited the English/European influences of the English Revival/Arts and Crafts movement favoured by his mentor, Burcham Clamp, and prominent contemporaries such as Horbury Hunt and B. J. Waterhouse. These elements included his used of hipped, gabled pitched and Jerkinhead style roofs, half-timbering, roughcast rendering, projecting external brick courses, shingled gable-ends and double-height bays. Orchard's style tended towards a stripped version of the Federation Arts and Crafts, with minimal ornamentation, which can be seen on the block of flatshe designed for Louis Grist at 12 East Crescent Street, McMahons Point (1917). That block featured the name of the building 'Cazna' in coloured leaded glass. The name was Anzac spelled backwards; presumably this was an homage to Australian men serving in World War One.

His 1913 design for the Lindfield residence of chartered accountant and newspaper director, Edward Sheedy, clearly showed an interest in the Californian Bungalowand American Craftsman styles. His design for a Bungalow in Sutherland around the same time, and 'Bidura' at 145 Merrigang Road, Bowral (1917), also included the low-pitched, wide-eave roof of the Californian style. In 1918, Orchard designed two Californian style bungalows at Nos. 22-24 Cranbrook Avenue, Cremorne, of which No. 24 survives as a local heritage item in North Sydney Council's Local Environment Plan.

In 1931, perhaps due to dire economic conditions in Sydney, Orchard moved to far north Queensland to turn his hand at tobacco farming near Mareeba. Unsuccessful as a farmer, in 1933 Orchard restarted his architectural practice in Cairns, with his designs reflecting the architectural tastes of the period: Art Deco, Spanish Mission, and later Functionalism and Streamline Moderne. His advertisements in the Cairns Post around this time touted him as a 'Specialist in Modern Flats and Homes.' The Post praised his 1934 design for the 'Floriana Villas', a block of Spanish Mission style flats on the Esplanade waterfront at Cairns as 'distinctly pleasing to the eye'. In 1939, he was commissioned by the same owner to build next door a modernised version of the Queenslander style timber residence attuned to the tropical climate, also called 'Floriana'.

In 1938, Orchard embarked on a world tour, visiting New Zealand, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, America, the United Kingdom and Europe, and the Dutch East Indies. On his return, he argued that Australian architecture in the tropics should adopt the colonial housing 'landhuis' style favoured in the Dutch East Indies, using traditional styles with a layout, lighting and ventilation that favoured the local climate.

While at Cairns, Orchard became involved with R. F. Fogarty of the Carlton United Breweries, and consequently received several commissions for the rebuilding and refurbishments of pubs/hotels in the region. These included the Strand Hotel (1935), the Railway Hotel (1937), and the Court House Hotel (1939) in Cairns. His design for the Australian Hotel (1940) at 83 Victoria Street, Mackay, is a prime example of his work in the Art Deco/Streamline Moderne style and is now a heritage landmark of the town. Orchard's design for the Imperial Hotel in Cairns on the corner of Abbott and Shields streets in 1953-1954 was another particularly elegant late expression of the Streamline Moderne style, but is now lost.

Orchard made his views on urban design known locally in the Cairns Post. In 1947 and 1950 he decried the 'neglected state' of Cairns' street gardens and trees, while vigorously opposing a Council proposal to plant Norfolk Island Pines along the Cairns waterfront. He favoured the 'glamor and romance associated with palm trees'. 'Give the tourist what he expects and wants', he argued, 'He can see Norfolk Island pines at Manly, Bondi or Coogee. You must give him palm trees and exotic-flowering shrubs'.

In January 1945, Orchard worked with Florence Taylor and Building Publishing on 'The Book of 36 Distinctive Homes', which contained a range of house designs and styles and effectively served as a client prospectus for Orchard's work.

From 1958 to 1963, Orchard practiced in partnership with another former Sydney-based architect, John L. (Jack) McElroy. As one of the few architectural firms based in Cairns, Orchard & McElroy were prolific, and they undertook a diverse range of projects. Though a longstanding member of the New South Wales Institute of Architects back in Sydney, it was not until 1951 that Orchard applied for membership of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, joining the Queensland Chapter as an Associate.

After 30 years in Queensland, Orchard returned to Sydney in 1963 with the intention of spending his retirement next to Harbour where he began his career. It was not to be. He died, age 72, in Rose Bay on 2 October 1963.

Written and researched by Andrew Beveridge, North Sydney Council.