RAH Livett

He trained as an architect at the Architectural Association in London before working for a number of private firms; for while, he was employed as an assistant by Paul and Michael Waterhouse.

In February 1934, he was appointed, by the incoming Labour administration, as Housing Director for Leeds; his annual salary began at £700 and eventually rose to £1,000.

His selection for the post may have been assisted by the Revd Charles Jenkinson who remarked that “When we obtained Mr Livett’s services we struck oil”.

Both men were keen to provide high-density housing for the working classes and travelled Europe looking for designs to emulate.

Like its European precursors, it contained communal open ground and amenities including a nursery, shops and a day centre.

It was built using the French Mopin concrete building method used on the Cité de la Muette at Drancy.

Towards the end of his career, he designed the College of Technology, Art and Commerce (1956) and the Temple Moore Grammar School (1957) in conjunction with Yorke, Rosenburg & Mardall.

Construction started again in 1954 with a slab block modelled on Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles.