Peter Meinhard Moro [commonly known as Peter Moro] was born in Heidelberg, Germany, on 27 May 1911. He studied architecture at the Technische Hochschule in Munich under Paul Schmitthenner (1929-31) and at the Technische Hochschule in Berlin-Charlottenburg under Heinrich Tessenow (1931-34). When the National Socialists came to power, Moro was ordered to leave the Hochschule because of his Jewish ancestry. He completed his architectural studies at the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zürich under Otto R. Salvisberg.
On graduating in 1936, Moro moved to London, and soon obtained a position with Berthold Lubetkin’s firm Tecton, working on the ‘Highpoint II’ project. He also designed the entrance screen for the MARS Group exhibition at the New Burlington Galleries in London in 1938. Later that year he formed a partnership with Richard Llewelyn-Davies (1912-1981) to design Harbour Meadow in Birdham, Sussex. In 1939 he became an executive member of the committee of the MARS. Modern Architectural Research Group.
Following the outbreak of World War Two in Moro was interned first in Huyton, Liverpool, and then at Douglas on the Isle of Man, where a fellow internee was architectural historian Niklaus Pevsner. Following his release in 1941, Moro obtained a teaching post in the School of Architecture at Regent Street Polytechnic in London where he remained until 1947. During the latter half of World War Two he also worked with the designer Robin Day at the Ministry of Information.
In 1948 he was asked to join a team to design the Royal Festival Hall for London's South Bank. Moro chose a number of his best students to work with him on the project. In 1952, a year after the completion of the Royal Festival Hall, Moro co-founded the architectural firm Peter Moro & Partners (PM&P). The firm established a reputation for its work in the field of theatre architecture. The PM&P partnership was dissolved in 1984.
Peter Moro was elected a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) in 1948. He died in London on 10 October 1998.
Theatres designed by Peter Moro and PM&P included Nottingham Playhouse (completed 1964), the Gulbenkian Centre at Hull University (1970), the modernisation of Bristol Old Vic (1972), the New Theatre of Ulster Theatre (1976), the Theatre Royal in Plymouth (completed 1982), the Taliesin Theatre at University College, Swansea (1984), and three theatres at the Academy of Performing Arts in Hong Kong (1983-85).
Other projects by the Moro and his firm firm included housing for the Greater London Council and the Borough of Southwark (1967-80), and Fairlawn Primary School in Lewisham, London (1957), a primary school at Birstall, Leicestershire (1964), and showrooms and offices for the furniture manufacturer Hille (with Robin Day, 1963).
Benton, Charlotte. A different world: emigre architects in Britain 1928-1958. London: RIBA Heinz Gallery, 1995
Croft, Catherine. 'Me and my Moro house'. C20. The Magazine of the Twentieth Century Society, issue 2, 2021 pp. 34-44 [An interview with Glynys Johnson and Tony Bevan, owners of a house in Blackheath, London built by the architect Peter Moro for himself and his family in 1958]
Fair, Alistair. Setting the Scene: Perspectives on Twentieth-Century Theatre Architecture. London: Routledge, 2017 [Contains a 30-page chapter: A London architect who has specialised: Peter Moro and festivity in theatre design, c. 1955–82]
Fair, Alistair. 'Peter Morro lamp'. C20. The Magazine of the Twentieth Century Society, issue 2, 2021 p. 80
Fernand, Deirdre. ‘Peter Moro and the Men from Mars’ in Applied Arts in British Exile from 1933, edited by Marian Malet. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2019 pp.27-48 [ISBN 10: 9004395091ISBN 13: 9789004395091]
Harwood, Elain. Mid-Century Britain: Modern Architecture 1938-1963. London: Batsford, 2021
Moro, Peter. ‘Harbour Meadow, Birdham, Sussex’. Twentieth Century Architecture. The Journal of the Twentieth Century Society [The Modern House Revisited special issue] no.2, 1996 pp.8-14
Powers, Alan. Modern. The Modern Movement in Britain. London: Merrell, 2005
Webb, Michael. 'Monuments to a theatrical revival'. Country Life vol. 138, 2 September 1965 pp. 563-565 [The Nottingham Playhouse designed by Moro is discussed]