diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/ArabicLayoutEngine.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/ArabicLayoutEngine.cpp
index 9976b689cc..95c189aa05 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/ArabicLayoutEngine.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/ArabicLayoutEngine.cpp
@@ -24,16 +24,38 @@
 
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
-class CharSubstitutionFilter : public LEGlyphFilter
+class CharSubstitutionFilter : public UObject, public LEGlyphFilter
 {
 private:
     const LEFontInstance *fFontInstance;
 
+    /**
+     * The address of this static class variable serves as this class's ID
+     * for ICU "poor man's RTTI".
+     */
+    static const char fgClassID;
+
 public:
     CharSubstitutionFilter(const LEFontInstance *fontInstance);
     le_bool accept(LEGlyphID glyph) const;
+
+    /**
+     * ICU "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for the actual class.
+     *
+     * @draft ICU 2.2
+     */
+    virtual inline UClassID getDynamicClassID() const { return getStaticClassID(); }
+
+    /**
+     * ICU "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for this class.
+     *
+     * @draft ICU 2.2
+     */
+    static inline UClassID getStaticClassID() { return (UClassID)&fgClassID; }
 };
 
+const char CharSubstitutionFilter::fgClassID=0;
+
 CharSubstitutionFilter::CharSubstitutionFilter(const LEFontInstance *fontInstance)
   : fFontInstance(fontInstance)
 {
@@ -80,7 +102,7 @@ le_int32 ArabicOpenTypeLayoutEngine::characterProcessing(const LEUnicode chars[]
         return 0;
     }
 
-    featureTags = new const LETag*[count];
+    featureTags = (const LETag **)uprv_malloc(count * sizeof(const LETag *));
 
     if (featureTags == NULL) {
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
@@ -154,7 +176,7 @@ UnicodeArabicOpenTypeLayoutEngine::UnicodeArabicOpenTypeLayoutEngine(const LEFon
 
 UnicodeArabicOpenTypeLayoutEngine::~UnicodeArabicOpenTypeLayoutEngine()
 {
-    delete fSubstitutionFilter;
+    delete (CharSubstitutionFilter *)fSubstitutionFilter;
 }
 
 // "glyphs", "indices" -> glyphs, indices
@@ -199,17 +221,17 @@ void UnicodeArabicOpenTypeLayoutEngine::mapCharsToGlyphs(const LEUnicode chars[]
         dir = -1;
     }
 
-    glyphs = new LEGlyphID[count];
+    glyphs = (LEGlyphID *)uprv_malloc(count * sizeof(LEGlyphID));
 
     if (glyphs == NULL) {
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return;
     }
 
-    charIndices = new le_int32[count];
+    charIndices = (le_int32 *)uprv_malloc(count * sizeof(le_int32));
 
     if (charIndices == NULL) {
-        delete [] glyphs;
+        uprv_free(glyphs);
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return;
     }
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.cpp
index 256d7d98ac..c1593a8501 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
+const char GDEFMarkFilter::fgClassID=0;
+
 GDEFMarkFilter::GDEFMarkFilter(const GlyphDefinitionTableHeader *gdefTable)
 {
     classDefTable = gdefTable->getGlyphClassDefinitionTable();
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.h b/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.h
index 15bbf6eab7..34e07c5456 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/GDEFMarkFilter.h
@@ -14,16 +14,36 @@
 
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
-class GDEFMarkFilter : public LEGlyphFilter
+class GDEFMarkFilter : public UObject, public LEGlyphFilter
 {
 private:
     const GlyphClassDefinitionTable *classDefTable;
 
+    /**
+     * The address of this static class variable serves as this class's ID
+     * for ICU "poor man's RTTI".
+     */
+    static const char fgClassID;
+
 public:
     GDEFMarkFilter(const GlyphDefinitionTableHeader *gdefTable);
     virtual ~GDEFMarkFilter();
 
     virtual le_bool accept(LEGlyphID glyph) const;
+
+    /**
+     * ICU "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for the actual class.
+     *
+     * @draft ICU 2.2
+     */
+    virtual inline UClassID getDynamicClassID() const { return getStaticClassID(); }
+
+    /**
+     * ICU "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for this class.
+     *
+     * @draft ICU 2.2
+     */
+    static inline UClassID getStaticClassID() { return (UClassID)&fgClassID; }
 };
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/IndicLayoutEngine.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/IndicLayoutEngine.cpp
index 7a362023df..7406eaa03e 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/IndicLayoutEngine.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/IndicLayoutEngine.cpp
@@ -79,25 +79,25 @@ le_int32 IndicOpenTypeLayoutEngine::characterProcessing(const LEUnicode chars[],
 
     le_int32 worstCase = count * IndicReordering::getWorstCaseExpansion(fScriptCode);
 
-    outChars = new LEUnicode[worstCase];
+    outChars = (LEUnicode *)uprv_malloc(worstCase * sizeof(LEUnicode));
 
     if (outChars == NULL) {
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return 0;
     }
 
-    charIndices = new le_int32[worstCase];
+    charIndices = (le_int32 *)uprv_malloc(worstCase * sizeof(le_int32));
     if (charIndices == NULL) {
-        delete[] outChars;
+        uprv_free(outChars);
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return 0;
     }
 
-    featureTags = new const LETag*[worstCase];
+    featureTags = (const LETag **)uprv_malloc(worstCase * sizeof(const LETag *));
 
     if (featureTags == NULL) {
-        delete[] charIndices;
-        delete[] outChars;
+        uprv_free(charIndices);
+        uprv_free(outChars);
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return 0;
     }
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/LETypes.h b/icu4c/source/layout/LETypes.h
index ea22b290a5..697795387b 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/LETypes.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/LETypes.h
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 #include "unicode/utypes.h"
 #include "unicode/uobject.h"
+#include "cmemory.h"
 
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/LayoutEngine.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/LayoutEngine.cpp
index c52885f354..c3662f7ca4 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/LayoutEngine.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/LayoutEngine.cpp
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ void LayoutEngine::positionGlyphs(const LEGlyphID glyphs[], le_int32 glyphCount,
     }
 
     if (positions == NULL) {
-        positions = new float[2 * (glyphCount + 1)];
+        positions = (float *)uprv_malloc((2 * (glyphCount + 1)) * sizeof(float));
 
         if (positions == NULL) {
             success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ void LayoutEngine::mapCharsToGlyphs(const LEUnicode chars[], le_int32 offset, le
     }
 
     if (glyphs == NULL) {
-        glyphs = new LEGlyphID[count];
+        glyphs = (LEGlyphID *)uprv_malloc(count * sizeof(LEGlyphID));
 
         if (glyphs == NULL) {
             success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ void LayoutEngine::mapCharsToGlyphs(const LEUnicode chars[], le_int32 offset, le
             dir = -1;
         }
 
-        charIndices = new le_int32[count];
+        charIndices = (le_int32 *)uprv_malloc(count * sizeof(le_int32));
 
         if (charIndices == NULL) {
             success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
@@ -303,17 +303,17 @@ void LayoutEngine::reset()
     fGlyphCount = 0;
 
     if (fGlyphs != NULL) {
-        delete[] fGlyphs;
+        uprv_free(fGlyphs);
         fGlyphs = NULL;
     }
 
     if (fCharIndices != NULL) {
-        delete[] fCharIndices;
+        uprv_free(fCharIndices);
         fCharIndices = NULL;
     }
 
     if (fPositions != NULL) {
-        delete[] fPositions;
+        uprv_free(fPositions);
         fPositions = NULL;
     }
 }
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/LookupProcessor.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/LookupProcessor.cpp
index 9d74cc621d..9ab422fcf3 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/LookupProcessor.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/LookupProcessor.cpp
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ LookupProcessor::LookupProcessor(const char *baseAddress,
  
     requiredFeatureIndex = SWAPW(langSysTable->reqFeatureIndex);
 
-    lookupSelectArray = new LETag[lookupListCount];
+    lookupSelectArray = (LETag *)uprv_malloc(lookupListCount * sizeof(LETag));
 
     for (int i = 0; i < lookupListCount; i += 1) {
         lookupSelectArray[i] = notSelected;
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ LookupProcessor::LookupProcessor(const char *baseAddress,
     const FeatureTable *featureTable = 0;
     LETag featureTag;
 
-    lookupOrderArray = new le_uint16[lookupListCount];
+    lookupOrderArray = (le_uint16 *)uprv_malloc(lookupListCount * sizeof(le_uint16));
 
     if (requiredFeatureIndex != 0xFFFF) {
         featureTable = featureListTable->getFeatureTable(requiredFeatureIndex, &featureTag);
@@ -198,8 +198,8 @@ LookupProcessor::LookupProcessor()
 
 LookupProcessor::~LookupProcessor()
 {
-    delete[] lookupOrderArray;
-    delete[] lookupSelectArray;
+    uprv_free(lookupOrderArray);
+    uprv_free(lookupSelectArray);
 };
 
 U_NAMESPACE_END
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/OpenTypeLayoutEngine.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/OpenTypeLayoutEngine.cpp
index f5f920cd14..f0efe5a899 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/OpenTypeLayoutEngine.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/OpenTypeLayoutEngine.cpp
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ void OpenTypeLayoutEngine::reset()
     // method that's called from here and
     // from our destructor
     if (fFeatureTags != NULL) {
-        delete[] fFeatureTags;
+        uprv_free(fFeatureTags);
         fFeatureTags = NULL;
     }
 }
@@ -142,15 +142,15 @@ le_int32 OpenTypeLayoutEngine::computeGlyphs(const LEUnicode chars[], le_int32 o
     outGlyphCount  = glyphPostProcessing(fakeGlyphs, tempCharIndices, fakeGlyphCount, glyphs, charIndices, success);
 
     if (outChars != chars) {
-        delete[] outChars;
+        uprv_free(outChars);
     }
 
     if (fakeGlyphs != glyphs) {
-        delete[] fakeGlyphs;
+        uprv_free(fakeGlyphs);
     }
 
     if (tempCharIndices != charIndices) {
-        delete[] tempCharIndices;
+        uprv_free(tempCharIndices);
     }
 
     return outGlyphCount;
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@ void OpenTypeLayoutEngine::adjustGlyphPositions(const LEUnicode chars[], le_int3
         delete[] adjustments;
     }
 
-    delete[] fFeatureTags;
+    uprv_free(fFeatureTags);
     fFeatureTags = NULL;
 }
 
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiLayoutEngine.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiLayoutEngine.cpp
index dc27ba766a..702c26f887 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiLayoutEngine.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiLayoutEngine.cpp
@@ -67,17 +67,17 @@ le_int32 ThaiLayoutEngine::computeGlyphs(const LEUnicode chars[], le_int32 offse
     
     // This is enough room for the worst-case expansion
     // (it says here...)
-    outChars = new LEUnicode[count * 2];
+    outChars = (LEUnicode *)uprv_malloc((count * 2) * sizeof(LEUnicode));
 
     if (outChars == NULL) {
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return 0;
     }
 
-    charIndices = new le_int32[count * 2];
+    charIndices = (le_int32 *)uprv_malloc((count * 2) * sizeof(le_int32));
 
     if (charIndices == NULL) {
-        delete[] outChars;
+        uprv_free(outChars);
         success = LE_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
         return 0;
     }
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ le_int32 ThaiLayoutEngine::computeGlyphs(const LEUnicode chars[], le_int32 offse
     glyphCount = ThaiShaping::compose(chars, offset, count, fGlyphSet, fErrorChar, outChars, charIndices);
     mapCharsToGlyphs(outChars, 0, glyphCount, false, false, glyphs, charIndices, success);
 
-    delete[] outChars;
+    uprv_free(outChars);
 
     return glyphCount;
 }
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.cpp b/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.cpp
index 229e2128b1..6a1ea6eb05 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.cpp
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.cpp
@@ -302,6 +302,8 @@ le_int32 ThaiShaping::compose(const LEUnicode *input, le_int32 offset, le_int32
     return outputIndex;
 }
 
+const char ThaiMarkFilter::fgClassID=0;
+
 ThaiMarkFilter::ThaiMarkFilter(le_uint8 glyphSet)
     : rangeList(NULL)
 {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.h b/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.h
index 02ea2cd04d..424c5089f4 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/ThaiShaping.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 
 U_NAMESPACE_BEGIN
 
-class ThaiMarkFilter : public LEGlyphFilter
+class ThaiMarkFilter : public UObject, public LEGlyphFilter
 {
 private:
     struct MarkRange
@@ -25,11 +25,31 @@ private:
 
     MarkRange *rangeList;
 
+    /**
+     * The address of this static class variable serves as this class's ID
+     * for ICU "poor man's RTTI".
+     */
+    static const char fgClassID;
+
 public:
     ThaiMarkFilter(le_uint8 glyphSet);
     ~ThaiMarkFilter();
 
     virtual le_bool filter(LEGlyphID glyph);
+
+    /**
+     * ICU "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for the actual class.
+     *
+     * @draft ICU 2.2
+     */
+    virtual inline UClassID getDynamicClassID() const { return getStaticClassID(); }
+
+    /**
+     * ICU "poor man's RTTI", returns a UClassID for this class.
+     *
+     * @draft ICU 2.2
+     */
+    static inline UClassID getStaticClassID() { return (UClassID)&fgClassID; }
 };
 
 class ThaiShaping /* not : public UObject because all methods are static */ {
diff --git a/icu4c/source/layout/unicode/loengine.h b/icu4c/source/layout/unicode/loengine.h
index 6dc402f5fb..12c6579ce5 100644
--- a/icu4c/source/layout/unicode/loengine.h
+++ b/icu4c/source/layout/unicode/loengine.h
@@ -287,31 +287,15 @@ inline int32_t ICULayoutEngine::layoutString(const UnicodeString &str,
                                             float x, float y,
                                             UErrorCode &success)
 {
-    int32_t glyphCount = 0;
-    int32_t max = str.length();
-    UChar *chars = new UChar[max];
-    
-    /* test for NULL */
-	if(chars == 0) {
-		success = U_MEMORY_ALLOCATION_ERROR;
-		return 0;
-	}
-    
-    str.extract(0, max, chars);
-
     // NOTE: call reset() so that clients can safely reuse
     fLayoutEngine->reset();
-    glyphCount = fLayoutEngine->layoutChars(chars,
+    return fLayoutEngine->layoutChars(str.getBuffer(),
                                       startOffset,
                                       endOffset - startOffset,
-                                      max,
+                                      str.length(),
                                       rightToLeft,
                                       x, y,
                                       (LEErrorCode &) success);
-
-    delete[] chars;
-
-    return glyphCount;
 }
 
 inline int32_t ICULayoutEngine::countGlyphs() const