James Bond design visionary Sir Ken Adam dies at 95

Sir Ken Adam, whose set designs helped define some of the most iconic movie images of the 20th century including the James Bond series, has died at the age of 95.

From villainous volcano lairs in You Only Live Twice to the fictitious Fort Knox vault in Goldfinger via the car in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Adam's designs proved larger than life.

The fantastical cave set for 1967's You Only Live Twice at Pinewood Studios influenced many audience members' vision of the Space Age. Credit: PA Archive

His War Room in Stanley Kubrick's 1964 classic Dr Strangelove proved so realistic US President Ronald Reagan asked to visit it upon arriving at the Pentagon only to learn it had been conjured from Adam's imagination.

The Berlin-born designer's work on Kubrick's Barry Lyndon in 1976 earned him one of his two Academy Awards, along with 1995's The Madness of King George.

The War Room in 1964's Dr Strangelove - which saw Peter Sellers in the title role - remains one of Ken Adam's standout set designs. Credit: PA Archive

He was also Oscar nominated for his work on Around the World In 80 Days, Addams Family Values and The Spy Who Loved Me.

His work on the Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s remained his best known, including the villain's headquarters in 1962's Dr No and the Aston Martin ejector seat in Goldfinger.

Roger Moore and Barbara Bach showed then Prime Minister Harold Wilson around the set of Adam's submarine base on the set of The Spy Who Loved Me during a visit to Pinewood Studios in 1976. Credit: PA Archive

Former Bond star Sir Roger Moore led the tributes to the designer, tweeting:

Adam was one of only three German-born pilots to serve in the RAF during the Second World War after his Jewish family fled the Nazis to England and in 2003 became the first production designer to be knighted.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang designed the car with the retractable wings for the 1968 children's classic. Credit: PA Archive

His biographer Sir Christopher Frayling told the BBC that Adam died in his sleep at home in London on Thursday. He is survived by his wife Maria Letizia.