laeMy grandfather Colen Lumley, who has died aged 93, was an architect, critic and painter whose work helped shape postwar Cambridge architecture and civic debate. Though best known as a partner to the modernist architect Sir Leslie Martin – who designed the Royal Festival Hall – Colen devoted much of his life to painting, his studio walls gradually wallpapered with life drawings and landscapes.
Born in Isleworth, west London, he was the eldest son of Pip (Dorothy, nee Pateman), an artist, and Lesley Lumley, a master tailor just off Savile Row. His childhood was interrupted by the second world war: evacuated with his brothers, the family soon returned to London, risking bombs and doodlebugs rather than “endure” their host family. As a teenager he met his wife-to-be, Julie Cann – a talented artist in her own right – at the Heston swimming club. They married in 1954.
