Sam Scorer: A Life in 14 Buildings

Sam Scorer (1923 – 2003) is widely recognised as the most significant architect of post-war Lincolnshire. During the fifty years of his career, Scorer employed an intriguing variety of building styles. However, his main contribution to our national architectural heritage remains his three open-plan structures with concrete hyperbolic paraboloid roofs. These structures epitomise the post-war excitement for engineering and a bold new vision of the future.  He was Lincolnshire's true renaissance man: an architect, a painter, a gallery owner, an advocate for the conservation of built environment, and a significant citizen of Lincoln – his portrait as the sheriff of the city still hangs in the council chambers. Today, a number of Scorer's buildings are acknowledged as being of national importance. Several of them are listed by Historic England: the Lincolnshire Motor Company Showrooms (1960) (now housing restaurants along Lincoln's Brayford Pool), and the iconic canopy of a former petrol station at Markham Moor along the A1 (1961) (now a coffee shop), are both Grade II listed; and St. John the Baptist church (1963), Sudbrooke Drive, Lincoln, is Grade II* listed. This exhibition celebrated a local architect of national significance. Through loans from the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Architectural Association and personal collections, the exhibition considered the main themes that are expressed through Scorer’s work and that remain relevant to the designers of the contemporary built environment. These included envisioning the future through architectural design, architecture's relationship with the wider context (social, financial, and environmental), and legacy-building. Sam Scorer: A Life in 14 Buildings also served as a bridge between the past and the present. Through the use of 3D and immersive models, visitors were invited to deepen understanding of architectural processes - from concept to completion - and encouraged to reconsider the relationship with your built environment through various activities; both within, and beyond, the Usher Gallery’s walls. This exhibition has been curated by Dr Karolina Szynalska McAleavey, chartered architect and Senior Lecturer at the Lincoln School of Architecture and the Built Environment and produced in collaboration with Lincoln Museum and Usher Gallery. Sam Scorer: A Life in 14 Buildings has been supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Further support has been generously provided by University of Lincoln, RIBA, and the Friends of Lincoln Museum and Usher Gallery. Images by Reece Straw