The theatre architect Roderick Ham, who has died aged 91, played an important role in the development of British theatre design in the postwar years. He was also one of the nicest men you could meet, a gentle giant, who gave me my first job in 1973.
Born in Balham, south London, Rod was the son of Bob Ham, a salesman, and Rea (nee Mathieson-Macbeth). In 1943 he went straight from school into the army, joining the Royal Engineers. He saw service with the Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners in India and with a field company in Sumatra, Indonesia. Demobbed and back in London in 1947, he began studying architecture at the Architectural Association, where he later taught.
Rod had always been a keen amateur actor and director, and he decided to direct his talents towards the design of theatre buildings. He set up his practice in London in 1954. Early work included alterations to the Festival theatre in Battersea Park and additions to the Royal Court, but he had to wait until 1969 for the completion of his first new building, the Thorndike theatre in Leatherhead, now Grade II-listed. This was followed by the Derby Playhouse in 1975, the New Wolsey theatre in Ipswich in 1979 and the Sackville theatre at Sevenoaks school in Kent, in 1981. He also produced important unrealised designs for the Dove theatre in High Wycombe, a theatre for Bedford and an arts centre for Harrow. I worked for him in his Kensington office during the early 1970s, and these were tough times for theatre architects, with a depressed economy and few sources of funding. As a result he did not get all the opportunities he deserved.
In 1961 he became a founder member of the Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT), an organisation established by theatre producers, technicians and architects to improve the design and functionality of theatre buildings. As a member of its theatre planning committee – along with its chair, another leading theatre architect, Peter Moro – he prepared a series of information sheets on aspects of theatre design, which were published by the Architects’ Journal. As a result of this work he was commissioned by the ABTT to compile and edit a book on the subject, published as Theatre Planning in 1972. This became the standard work of reference for all designers of theatres, which he revised and expanded in 1987 as Theatres: Planning Guidance for Design and Adaptation. In 2012, he was made a fellow of the ABTT. In 1989 he was also made master of the Art Workers’ Guild, a role he was particularly proud of.
Rod had met and married Cara Aldridge, originally from Adelaide, Australia, in the 1950s. He never officially retired, but in his later years, when Cara was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, he devoted himself to her care until her death in 2012. He is survived by his niece and nephew.
