At the age of 38, Sir Hugh was appointed architectural director of the Festival of Britain, which has been used as a model for next year’s Millennium Dome extravaganza.
During the Second World War, he served with the RAF camouflaging aerodromes, before moving to the Ministry of Town and Country Planning in 1944. He returned to private practice in 1946.
In 1952, he was knighted and set up the Casson Conder Partnership with Neville Conder. Among the practice’s notable buildings are the Elephant House at London Zoo (1964), the NatWest Bank offices in Manchester (1972) and the Ismaili Centre in London (1984).
Sir Hugh espoused modern architecture, but was classed as a “herbivore” for his soft, browsing, eclectic approach, as distinct from the hard-line “carnivores”. His popular touch, as manifested in his work on the Festival of Britain, never deserted him.
To the public, he was probably most famous for his series of books of charming watercolours of London, Oxford, Cambridge and the Tower of London. His accessibility also endeared him to the royal family, who commissioned him for interiors of Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and the royal yacht Britannia.
As well as being an architect, interior designer, watercolourist and author, Sir Hugh operated as an artistic impresario. He popularised the Royal Academy of Arts when president from 1976 to 1984, and was member of the Royal Fine Art Commission from 1960 to 1983.
