Architect Richard Seifert, who died on Friday, designed some of the capital's most famous buildings. MATTHEW NIXSON looks back on his career

Architect Richard Seifert, responsible for designing some of London's best known landmarks, died on Friday aged 90.

His most famous creations include Centre Point and the National Westminster Tower. But he also designed Barnet House in Whetstone High Road and Wembley Conference Centre.

The Colonel, as he was universally known, was an incredibly prolific architect, responsible for more than 500 office blocks during his long career. He was a longtime resident of a the decidedly non-highrise Milespit Hill in Mill Hill, and a former Barnet magistrate known as a prodigious worker, only retiring completely last year.

During the Sixties his buildings transformed the London skyline following the relaxation of planning regulations. Developers believed he had an almost magical ability to get planning permission.

Elain Harwood, an inspector of historic buildings for English Heritage, said: "His absolute mastery was getting the maximum permitted floor space from any site.

"He could out-manoeuvre any poor local authority planning officer because he knew the law backwards."

Miss Harwood, who worked on the listing of Centre Point in 1995, added: "He was the best at what he did which was masterminding those great office schemes."

Born in 1910, he was a schoolboy chess champion and keen violinist. He studied architecture at University College London before enlisting in the Royal Engineers in 1939 and saw service in India, being mentioned in dispatches and rising to the rank of colonel.

Returning to private practice in 1948, Colonel Seifert began work on a string of buildings which would make him one of the most controversial architects of his era. Centre Point, completed in 1966, remains the world's tallest prefabricated building.

It remained empty for years, attracting equal criticism and approval. Its revolutionary design would be echoed in later work, including Barnet House which was built in Whetstone High Road as headquarters for Ever Ready batteries but is now Barnet Council's main offices. Richard Harris, Colonel Seifert's grandson, said it was one of his grandfather's proudest days when Centre Point became a listed building.

"He was an absolute workaholic. He would get up at 6.30am and go into work on Saturdays," Mr Harris recalled. "He was also a very nice person and incredibly modest. He worked up until last year, he never really retired."

Colonel Seifert died in the Garden Hospital, Hendon, last week after suffering a short bout of pneumonia. More than 150 relatives, friends and colleagues attended his funeral at the Jewish Reform Cemetery in Edgwarebury Lane, Edgware, on Sunday28/10. He is survived by his wife Josephine Harding whom he married in 1939. The couple had two sons and a daughter, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Miss Harwood added: "He really was responsible for designing most of the London skyline we now know he was very influential."

October 31, 2001 17:57