Roy Case was born in 1934, in Wimbledon, UK, and educated at Mitcham Grammar School, Surrey. He enrolled in the First Year of the Architectural Association Diploma Course, in 1951, aged 17 and elected to study with the AA’s Department of Tropical Architecture as part of the final year of his AA Diploma, in 1955-56. After graduation, Roy studied Town Planning at University College London and worked for the Architects’ Department of the London County Council, before setting up his own practice, ‘Design Alliance’, with AA friends and colleagues. In 1962, due to an economic downturn he contacted Crown Agents, responsible for hiring for Commonwealth countries, and was offered a choice of two positions, one in Kenya and one in Jamaica. He spun a coin and accepted the latter, joining the Jamaica Town Planning Department in 1963, subsequently moving to the Kingston-based practice, ‘Caribbean Planning Associates’, in 1969. Citing increasing levels of violence and threats, Case then moved to Florida, USA and by 1976 had established a private architectural practice. His early work included the design of a community now known as Counterpoint Estates, in Royal Palm Beach - the initial batch of 110 homes, all being powered by solar water heating. In 1978 he transitioned into golf course design, becoming highly successful in this field and being responsible for over 25 major courses, prime of which are the Counterpoint Estates course, in Royal Palm Beach, Florida, (1978), the Okeeheelee Golf Course, West Palm Beach, Florida (1995), the New Jersey National Golf Course, Basking Ridge (1997), and The Refuge, Flowood, Mississippi (1998). Roy was an early advocate of Landfill Reclamation golf courses, reclaiming barren sites of closed landfills and transforming them into community assets, a notable example of this being his course for the Wildcat Golf Club of Houston, Texas (2001). He passed away in Florida in 2019.
Sources
- Architectural Association Student Register 1945-1972, AA Archives
- Architectural Association Diploma Roll Book, 1924-1963, AA Archives
- Department of Tropical Architecture, student listing, Otto Koenigsberger Collection, Box OK27, AA Archives
- Architectural Association Members List, 1969
- Architectural Association Members List, 1979
- ‘Feature Interview with Roy Case, February 2008’, Golf Club Atlas. https://golfclubatlas.com/feature-interview/interviewcase/ retrieved 13/11/24
- ‘Roy Case Obituary’ Palms West Funeral Home. https://www.palmswestfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Roy-Case-3/#!/Obituary Retrieved 13/11/24
