It is with great sadness that we record the recent death of the architect Frank Duffy, Past President of the Royal Institute of British Architects and a long-term resident of Walberswick.

Born in the north east of England (the landscape of my heart as Frank would quote W H Auden) he moved to London to study at the Architectural Association School of Architecture where he completed the course with an Honours Diploma. Here he developed an interest in new ideas from Germany about the design of more flexible and versatile work spaces known as ‘burolandschaft’ or ‘office landscaping’. In pursuit of these ideas Frank and his partners established in 1971 the international design and space planning consultancy DEGW. It is no exaggeration to claim the revolutionary impact of their work.

In Walberswick Frank joined the Parish Plan Working Party set up to collect data about the village and its aspirations. A legacy of this work was the establishment of the Planning Advisory Group which comments to the Parish Council on planning applications. Frank’s contribution was valued for his deep understanding of architectural design, his skill in report writing, and his wit.