THE leading architect who designed Princess Margaret Hospital, Sir Philip Powell, has died at the age of 82.

He earned high praise when in 1951 he and his partner Hidalgo Moya were awarded the commission to design what was to be the first new hospital to be built in Britain after World War II.

The two men, who set up their practice in 1946, achieved fame as the creators of the futuristic needle-shaped Skylon which became famous world-wide as the visual theme of the 1951 Festival of Britain. It had no practical use and was taken down after one year, but it was regarded as a symbol of regeneration as Britain began to shake off the effects of wartime.

The glass and concrete structure of the PMH echoed the style of high density housing developments for which Powell and Moya became well-known.

Their work on PMH also led to commissions to design at least half a dozen other hospitals. But the Swindon design did not win universal approval from the people who used the new establishment.

Nurses complained about its under-floor heating system. Sir Phillip, made a CB in 1984, and Moya believed in optimising natural light and views from their buildings, but many patients disliked the PMH's acres of glass.