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A major figure in London’s world of arts and design was revealed today as the fifth cyclist to be killed in London this year.

Designer Moira Gemmill, 55, recently hand-picked by the Queen to oversee renovations at Windsor Castle, died after she was struck by a tipper lorry near Lambeth Bridge yesterday.

A former director of design at the Victoria and Albert Museum, she is thought to have been cycling to work at St James’s Palace when the accident happened.

Today figures in London’s arts world paid tribute to the “visionary” designer who led the recent acclaimed re-design and refurbishment of the V&A.

Sir Mark Jones, the former director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, said she was “a really exceptional person” and it was “a terrible loss”.

He said: “She was one of the brightest and best people ‎in the world of art and design, much liked and respected by all the many architects and designers she worked with and loved by her colleagues and friends in the V&A and elsewhere.”

Friend Christine Murray, 37, Editor of the Architectural Review, said: “She had such tremendous energy and really believed in bringing more women into architecture because there were so few.

“She was an inspiring person to be around. She was a champion so this is such a huge loss to the world of architecture and design in terms of what she brought to places in London.

“She really believed in the power of design to transform people’s lives. The V&A figures speak for themselves in this regard and that’s what she would have brought to the Royal Households. She reinvigorated so much with her passion and energy.”

Her devastated brother Andrew, 59, speaking from the family home in Scotland, today told the Standard: “She was a wonderful, inspirational woman.

“She was absolutely extraordinary but in a very modest way. She lived a modest life. She was very excited about her new post, we all were.”

Martin Roth, director of the V&A, said: “We are devastated to hear of the tragic death of our much-loved and respected colleague of many years, Moira Gemmill.

"During her 13-year career at the V&A as the Director of Design before leaving for the Royal Collection in January this year, she made an extraordinary impact in transforming the Museum’s galleries and facilities with the FuturePlan programme of restoration, refurbishment and redesign.

"I cannot overstate Moira’s remarkable contribution in making the V&A the global leader in museum design that it is today. She will be greatly missed and our thoughts are with her family at this very sad time.”

Miss Gemmill was appointed as Director, Capital Programmes at the Royal Collection Trust in January this year.

The specially-created role involved spearheading the modernisation of Windsor Castle and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.

Her appointment came after a 13 year tenure at the V&A where she oversaw the award winning modernisation of the galleries hailed as one of the factors in a major increase in visitor numbers.

Jonathan Marsden, director of the Royal Collection Trust, said: “We are deeply saddened and shocked by this tragic news. In her very short time with us as Director, Capital Programmes, Moira had become both a good friend and a highly respected colleague, and we shall miss her very greatly.”

She also pioneered the creation of the V&A’s planned outpost at the “Olympicopolis” cultural quarter in Stratford, east London.

Miss Gemmill, who lived alone in a townhouse in Kennington, was in collision with a tipper lorry at the Millbank roundabout, off Lambeth Bridge, at 9.30am yesterday.

Paramedics battled for more than 30 minutes to save her but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

The 40-year-old driver of the lorry, from Potters Bar-based engineering firm JSM, was questioned but not arrested.

Cycling campaigners today warned the junction where she died was a “notorious blackspot” which should have been revamped.

The Millbank roundabout was the focus of a Transport for London consultation in 2012 but plans for a re-design were shelved after objections by Westminster Council.

Rosie Downes, Campaigns Manager at London Cycling Campaign, said: “We are devastated to hear of yet another fatality on our roads.

“This death took place at a notorious danger spot – campaigners have long called for the urgent redesign of this junction.

“That proposals to do so were abandoned after consultation will bring no comfort to this woman’s family.”

Donnachadh McCarthy from the Stop Killing Cyclists campaign said :“It’s really dangerous for cyclists. I don’t understand why you’ve got a roundabout at the junction with a bridge.”

Miss Gemmill, a graduate of the Glasgow School of Art, grew up on her family’s farm in Kintyre, in western Scotland, and moved to London in the late 1990s to work for the British Museum after a decade at the Aberdeen Art Gallery.

She was headhunted by the V&A in 2002 to lead its £150m FuturePlan project to re-invent the “dowdy” museum for the 21st century.

Annual visitor numbers increased from 900,000 to 2.9 million under her watch, and the projects received numerous awards from the design and architecture sector.

An honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects she was also behind the V&A’s first permanent presence outside London, a £45 million museum in Dundee due to open in 2017.

A Westminster City Council spokesman added: “The council felt that the proposed TfL scheme would have made the junctions unsafe for motorcyclists, and included no safety measures for pedestrians.

“We asked Transport for London to engage with all road users and put together a revised scheme for everyone to agree, as we always have to find a balance for all road users. As far as we are aware this has yet to be done.”

Leon Daniels, managing director of surface transport at TfL, said: “Millbank roundabout is one of the junctions we plan to upgrade as part of our Better Junctions programme.”

Police have appealed for witnesses to contact the Serious Collision Investigation Unit at Catford on 020 8285 1574.