Edward William Armstrong was born in New Zealand on 28 July 1896. After working for the architectural firm Burr & Mirfield in Gisborne, he left New Zealand to serve in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) in 1916. After the war he was awarded a £200 NZEF scholarship to study at the Architecture Association in London. He was placed second in the Prix de Rome in 1921, and won the Henry Jarvis scholarship, being first New Zealander to do so. He then studied in Rome
Following his return to England he worked in various architectural offices in London including Sir John Burnet & Partners and Adams, Holden & Pearson. In the 1920s he was employed to supervise the construction of The Law Courts and The Port Offices in Rangoon, Burma [now Yangon, Myanmar]. In 1929 he returned to New Zealand. Whilst there, he won a competition to design the Robert McDougal Art Gallery in Christchurch. During his stay in New Zealand he married before returning to London where in 1932 he established a private practice. He subsequently worked for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, Guinness Trust and London County Council, and became known as a specialist in the design of low-income family housing.
Armstrong was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA) in 1920 and a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1934.
Armstrong's address was given as Sarola Brittanica, Villa Papa Julia, Rome 51, Italy in 1921-22; c/o the Architectural Association, London from 1922 to 1925; 6 New Burlington Street, Regent Street, London in 1926; c/o The Architectural Association, London in 1930; 48 Upper Cheyne, Chelsea, London in 1932; 5 Vigo Street, Regent Street, London in 1936; and 19 Manchester Square, London in 1939.
In 1940 he rejoined the armed forces but was seriously injured in a plane crash in 1944. and was invalided out of the Army. He then London went back to London and restarted his private practice. In 1949, with Frederick MacManus he formed the architectural partnership Armstrong & MacManus, In 1953 Armstrong returned to New Zealand where he remained in practise until 1968. MacManus continued to run Armstrong & MacManus for several years after Armstrong's departure
Armstrong died in New Zealand on 24 December 1992
A house designed by Armstrong received Third Prize in the "Daily Mail" Ideal Labour-Saving Home competition held in 1920. Glebe Place, a residential block on Church Street, Stoke Newington, London designed by Armstrong for London County Council in 1937 is described in Flats: Municipal and Private Enterprise (London: Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd., 1938 pp. 92-99). He also designed Loughborough Park Estate in London in 1936-39, and Brae Court on Kingston Hill, London in conjunction with Oscar Bayne.
Armstrong, David. ‘Edward William Armstrong RIBA FNZIA’. Architecture New Zealand May/June 1993 p.18
Flats: Municipal and Private Enterprise. London: Ascot Gas Water Heaters Ltd., 1938
‘Riley Arms', Cremone Estate, Chelsea’, Architect & Building News December 1955 pp. 456-458 [Architects: Edward Armstrong and Frederick MacManus]
Sheppard, Richard Herbert. Buildong for the People. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1948