Sam Scorer

Sam Scorer
Former Petrol Station, 1960-1, Markham Moor, Notts.
Born	2 March 1923 Lincoln
Died	6 March 2003 Lincoln
Nationality	English
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and the Architectural Association
Occupation	Architect
Practice	Scorer and Bright and Partners
Buildings	Markham Moor Petrol Station
Design	Hyperbolic paraboloids

Hugh Segar "Sam" Scorer FRSA (2 March 1923 – 6 March 2003) was an architect who worked in Lincoln and was a leading pioneer in the development of hyperbolic paraboloid roof structures using concrete. He also was involved in architectural conservation and research into the work of local 19th-century architects, as well as creating an art gallery in Lincoln, now known as the Sam Scorer Gallery.

He was brought up in Lincoln, one of five children. His father was a senior partner in a firm of solicitors, and later became clerk to Lindsey County Council. His mother was a lecturer at Bishop Grosseteste College, a teacher training college. He went to the independent Repton School in south Derbyshire, where he became Head Boy, and excelled at drawing.

He read Mechanical Sciences at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1941, and enjoyed painting as well. He was commissioned in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and met his wife in Canada, when training to be a Fleet Air Arm pilot. He served as a fighter pilot until 1945, but was invalided out of service, having crashed attempting to land on a moving aircraft carrier in the Baltic Sea.

Combining his interest in artwork and mechanical design, he decided to become an architect. He entered the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) in the second year in 1946, and graduated in 1949.

He changed his name by statutory declaration to Sam.

He married Anna Humphrey in 1943 in Kingston, Ontario. They had a son and a daughter (who died in April 1986). He lived on Gibraltar Hill in Lincoln. He died in Lincoln County Hospital in March 2003, aged 80.

Away from architecture he was a motor racing enthusiast, attending many of Europe's grand prix circuits. He owned a succession of fast cars, such as a Lotus Elan and various Jaguars, all with his personalised number plate of EVL 1. He was a Sheriff of Lincoln in the 1970s. He was a member of the Reform Club and took an interest in Liberal politics.