John Hardcastle Dalton Madin (23 March 1924 – 8 January 2012) was an English

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. His company, known as John H D Madin & Partners from 1962 and the John Madin Design Group from 1968, was active in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

for over 30 years.

Biography

He was born in

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

, on 23 March 1924 and died on 8 January 2012. He served in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

with the Royal Engineers in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Madin was a significant figure of post-war Birmingham architecture. Madin's work has been much neglected and was not highly regarded by the early-21st century political leadership within Birmingham. Clive Dutton, the city's former Director of Planning and Regeneration, described Madin's Central Library as a "concrete monstrosity" (Madin's original plans were for the building to be clad in marble; the city, however, was unwilling to foot the bill so a concrete finish was used instead). A replacement, the Library of Birmingham was opened on 3 September 2013 in

Centenary Square Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of Broad Street in Birmingham, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves ...

, which resulted in the previous building being demolished, starting early in 2015. John Madin Design Group was also responsible for the early designs for Dawley New Town, which later became

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in t ...

. During the 1970s, Madin became increasingly involved in master-planning projects in the Middle East. Societies such as the 20th Century Society campaigned to have some of his buildings

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

and English Heritage twice recommended the former Library should be listed, but this attempt was unsuccessful. The two Madin designed buildings to gain listed status are Juniper Hill in

Lapworth Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies six miles (10 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16&nbs ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, a residential property designed and built between 1957 and 1959 and designated at Grade II on 29 October 2013, and St James's House, Frederick Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, erected in 1954–7 and one of a group of postwar office buildings designated by English Heritage in January 2015.

Works

Notable buildings

*AEU Building, Smallbrook Queensway,

(1955, demolished 2005) * St James's House, Birmingham (1957; Grade II listed) *

Chamber of Commerce and Industry A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

, Birmingham (1958) *The Post and Mail building, Birmingham (1960, partially demolished 2005 and subsequently redeveloped) *

Birmingham Central Library Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was ...

(1974, demolished 2015) *

Birmingham Conservatoire The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire is a music school, drama school and concert venue in Birmingham, England. It provides professional education in music, acting, and related disciplines up to postgraduate level. It is a centre for scholarly res ...

, Birmingham (1974; demolished 2017) *Belmont House, Edgbaston, Birmingham (1975) *Neville House, Hagley Road, Birmingham (1977) *Shell Mex and BP House, Edgbaston, Birmingham *

BBC Pebble Mill Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne o ...

, Birmingham (1971; demolished 2005) *

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

Police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

headquarters (demolished January 2012) *

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

Central Library (1976) *54 Hagley Road, Birmingham (1978) *The Sandwell Centre, West Bromwich *

Metropolitan House Metropolitan House, also known as 1 Hagley Road, is a commercial building that has been developed into apartments in Birmingham, England. It is situated on the A456 Hagley Road at Five Ways. It was designed by John Madin. Radio transmitters Th ...

, Five Ways, Birmingham * Powergen, Shirley, Solihull (demolished 2017) * NatWest Tower, Colmore Row, Birmingham (demolished 2015–2017) * Quayside Tower Broad Street, Birmingham (1964)

References

External links

John-Madin.info, a website with comprehensive information and photos (including a 132 page illustrated PDF of his life and work)Interview and background; July 2005
in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry building BBC Documentary, 1965Article on John Madin in Building Design, 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:Madin, John 1924 births 2012 deaths British Army personnel of World War II Brutalist architects People from Moseley Royal Engineers officers Modernist architects from England Architects from Birmingham, West Midlands