Arthur Joseph Davis was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

. Davis studied at the Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 École des Beaux-Arts

École des Beaux-Arts

École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...

 in the 1890s. He was the co-partner in the firm Mewes & Davis, with Charles Mewès

Charles Mewès

Charles Frédéric Mewès was a French architect and designer.-Biography:Charles Frédéric Mewès was born at Strasbourg. He came from a Jewish family of Baltic origin. The whole family left Alsace in 1870 during the Prussian invasion. At 20, he joined the office of Jean-Louis Pascal, a then famous...

. The firm designed the elevations and interior decoration of the London Ritz Hotel

Ritz Hotel

The Ritz London is a luxury 5-star hotel located in Piccadilly and overlooking Green Park in London.- History :Swiss hotelier César Ritz, former manager of the Savoy Hotel, opened the hotel on 24 May 1906...

 which introduced modern French comfort and luxury enabled by innovative steel frame construction. In addition, the partnership took on numerous private commissions including Luton Hoo

Luton Hoo

Luton Hoo straddles the Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire borders between the towns of Harpenden and Luton. The unusual name "Hoo" is a Saxon word meaning the spur of a hill, and is more commonly associated with East Anglia.- Early History :...

 for Sir Julius Wernher

Julius Wernher

Sir Julius Charles Wernher, 1st Baronet was a German-born Randlord and art collector who became part of the English establishment.-Life history:...

, Coombe Court for Countess De Grey and Polesden Lacey

Polesden Lacey

Polesden Lacey is an Edwardian house and estate. It is located on the North Downs at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey, England. It is owned and run by the National Trust and is one of the Trust's most popular properties....

 for The Hon Mrs Ronald Greville. Prior to World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 Davis worked on a number of ocean liner

Ocean liner

An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...

s such as the Aquitania

Aquitania

Aquitania may refer to:* the territory of the Aquitani, a people living in Roman times in what is now Aquitaine, France* Aquitaine, a region of France roughly between the Pyrenees, the Atlantic ocean and the Garonne, also a former kingdom and duchy...

 (1911–14) and after his military service he designed a number of banks in London. His last major commission was the Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...

(1935).