Leonard Francis Richards was born on 23 May 1906. He trained as an architect in Cardiff and registered as a student with the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1929. He was awarded a B.A.Arch, (Cardiff) and in 1933 was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects (ARIBA)
In 1935 he collaborated with the architect Martin Josiah Herbert Goodchild (1908-1954) in a competition to design five-storey flats in reinforced concrete sponsored by the Cement Marketing Company Ltd.
His address was given as 57 Bishops Road, Whitchurch, Glamorgan, Wales in 1929 and 1930; 181 Valley Road, Streatham, Surrey [now London] in 1931 and 1935; The Liverpool School of Architecture, University of Liverpool, 26 Abercromby Square, Liverpool in 1936; 41 Hayes Way, Beckenham, Kent in 1938 and 1939; and "Tung An". Hereward Avenue, Birchington, Kent in 1950. He died on 19 April 1986. His address at the time of his death was 19 Turnagain Lane, Canterbury, Kent.
Working Class Domestic Flats in Reinforced Concrete. Report on competition for Designs for Five-Storey Flats London: The Cement Marketing Company Ltd., 1935 p. 59