In addition to Tom's significant role as an architect of extraordinary talent and sensitivity, as the senior partner of a busy architectural practice, as a professional of enormous integrity and generosity, and, for those of us who worked for and with him, a mentor and inspiration to whom we owe a considerable debt, Tom found the time and energy to make a vast contribution to the local Richmond community.

In addition to his family commitments, the demands of running the firm and giving his time to contribute to the local community through such events as the Richmond Arts Festival and to serve as a Churchwarden of Richmond Parish Church and, for many years, as Parish Architect, Tom was a key member of the Executive Committee of the local amenity group, The Richmond Society, in its early days between 1960 and 1964, serving as Chairman of its Architectural and Planning Sub-Committee during a period of considerable change and threats of radical and destructive change in the Town. Residents, visitors and those working in the Town continue to benefit today from the work that Tom and his colleagues undertook in those early days and from the valuable support he extended for the Society with colleagues from the firm, such as the late Alexander Hamilton-Fletcher, in the years after he stepped down from the Society's Committees.

Through his involvement with local development and planning matters and key figures in the local community, Tom was drawn into the campaign to secure the re-establishment of the Richmond Parish Lands Charity and the reinstatement of its original purpose - the body charged with the management of the Queen's Road Estate, the approximately 24 acres of land bordering Richmond Park near the top of Richmond Hill granted to the people of Richmond by King George III in 1785, and the distribution of the income derived from the estate for appropriate charitable purposes.

Between 1962 and 1968, Tom worked with other distinguished local residents with a passion for Richmond and its community, such as the brilliant property lawyer, Isador Caplan; former councillor, the late Lt. Col. John Gueritz; former Vicar of Richmond, the late Canon Derek Landreth; and Liberal Councillor and Tom's former fellow first-year student at the Bartlett in 1941, Rachel Dickson, who is still very much part of the local community; in campaigning for and securing through the Courts, the re-establishment of the Charity for the benefit of the local Richmond community - finally approved by the Charity Commission and by Parliament in 1971.

Tom served as the Richmond Society's nominee on the Charity from 1968 to 1987; serving as Deputy Chairman with special responsibility for the estate and planning matters from January, 1973, and as Chairman between 1980 and 1983. In these roles, Tom played a major role in shaping the redevelopment of the Queen's Road Estate - its transformation from an area of derelict and ruinous Victorian villas, with a couple of attractive streets of smaller, tenanted semi-detached houses, to the estate of social housing and community facilities we value today - one of the finest residential estates in London and the South-east, and a continuing model of excellence in the provision and design of affordable and sustainable housing in an urban setting.

It was Tom, with support from his fellow trustees, who recognised the imbalance in housing provision in Richmond in the late 'sixties and early 'seventies, and the unmet housing needs of young people, working families and the elderly in the Town. It was Tom, with support from his colleagues, who commissioned an influential report on housing provision in Richmond by Jennifer Dale, published in May, 1973, which underpinned the master-plan for the development of the estate, adopted and published in November, 1973. It was Tom, with support from his fellow trustees, who, in June, 1971, after a limited competition, commissioned his former pupil, John Darbourne, and John's partner Geoffrey Darke, to prepare the master-plan, and subsequently design the first two, major phases in the development of the estate. And it was Tom who was responsible for setting the framework for that master-plan with its emphasis on low-rise, high-density development, incorporating the mature landscaped setting and the two streets of modest Victorian houses.

Finally and importantly, it was Tom with his fellow trustees who engaged in the complex negotiations with the Charity Commission, the Housing Corporation and the Department of Housing and Local Government that led to the realisation of the master-plan and the completion of the first two phases of the development by the London and Quadrant Housing Trust between 1978 and 1984.

Tom's own work as an architect in housing is well reflected in schemes such as Portland Terrace on Richmond Green, Tree Close in Petersham and the modest almshouses behind the Chapel at Hickey's Almshouses in the Sheen Road and at Benn's Cottages off Kew Foot Road. However, his commitment to meeting the needs of the community and the creation of a humane and attractive living environment for all is also reflected in his work for the development of the Queen's Road Estate.