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Douglas Lees, my father, who has died aged 94, was an architect who contributed modestly to the built environment in various parts of England, from new towns to prisons, loft conversions to granny flats.

He was born in Dalston, east London, with Erb’s palsy, a condition caused by nerve damage during birth, which limited the use of his left arm. His father, James Lees, a fish fryer, had been in the British Expeditionary Force at Mons, Belgium, in 1914, one of a small group of veterans who survived the whole of the first world war. His mother, Isabel (nee Weddell), had six children and worked at home making Christmas crackers. Doug considered himself a cockney, declaring that the sound of Bow bells could be heard across the Hackney Marshes.

At the age of eight, in 1939, he and his brother Ronnie were evacuated to Cornwall, with other classmates from Holy Trinity school in Tottenham, where Mrs Travarthen of Troon took them in. That they felt at home with this family is evidenced by a lifelong friendship and return visits to Cornwall many times afterwards.

Scouting was also a big influence on Doug through his membership of the 2nd North London, 1st London Caledonians scouts at High Cross Congregational church, Tottenham. He loved hiking competitions, camping expeditions and gang shows. His uniform is now in the Scout Association heritage collection.

It was at the church that Doug met Anne Hawkins, from a large fish-selling family, and they married there in 1957. By then Doug was well into his part-time studies at North East London Polytechnic (now the University of East London) for a diploma in architecture (following his secondary education at a technical school in Tottenham). During the day he worked as an office junior.

Once qualified, Doug continued with the same firm and worked on projects to develop towns in various parts of England: Halewood and Maghull in Merseyside, Workington in Cumbria and Arnold in Nottinghamshire.

By the mid 1960s, Doug and Anne had moved to Hatfield Broad Oak in Essex, spending the rest of their married lives there. In the 70s, Doug got a position with the Home Office to design prisons and young offender institutions, mostly in the north-east of England. He came to love the north-east, especially the Northumberland coast, where our family often enjoyed holidays.

On my father’s early retirement from the Home Office, the family remained in Hatfield Broad Oak. Doug’s work can be seen in many village buildings, the result of local planning applications in keeping with the traditional nature of the village. He was involved in founding the 1st Hatfield Broad Oak scout group and chaired its management committee for many years. He also painted watercolours, particularly of St Mary’s church and churchyard.

After Anne’s death in 2007, he moved to Yorkshire to live in Huddersfield, where he was a member of several ecumenical lunch clubs in the town, and later in York.

He is survived by me and my brother, David, three grandchildren, Hannah, Jennifer and Peter, and a great-grandson, Gabriel.