Judith Geertruid Ledeboer
OBE (8 September 1901 – 24 December 1990) was a Dutch-born English architect. She was most active in London and Oxford, where she designed a variety of schools, university buildings and public housing projects.
Early life and education
Ledeboer was born in 1901 in
Almelo
Almelo () is a municipality and a city in the eastern Netherlands. The main population centres in the town are Aadorp, Almelo, Mariaparochie, and Bornerbroek.
Almelo has about 72,000 inhabitants in the middle of the rolling countryside of Twente, ...
, the Netherlands. She was one of six children born to Willem Ledeboer, who worked as a banker, and Harmina Engelbertha van Heek. Her family moved to London shortly after her birth. She attended
Wimbledon High School
Wimbledon High School is an independent girls' day school in Wimbledon, South West London. It is a Girls' Day School Trust school and is a member of the Girls' Schools Association.
History
Wimbledon High School was founded by the Girls' Publ ...
,
Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to p ...
and
Bedford College (a constituent school of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
). She studied history at
Newnham College
Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge.
The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millice ...
at the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
from 1921 to 1924. She moved to
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
, to complete a master's degree in economics at
Radcliffe College in 1925, and returned to London the next year to train at the
Architectural Association School of Architecture. She studied alongside
Jessica Albery,
Justin Blanco White
Margaret Justin Blanco White OBE ARIBA (11 December 1911 – 1 November 2001) was a Scottish architect.
Early life and education
Margaret Justin Blanco White was born at 30 Pembroke Square, Kensington, London, on 11 December 1911. Her father ...
, and
Mary Crowley (later Medd), and they developed a commitment to housing reform and social concerns which impacted their future careers.
She graduated in 1931.
With Jessica Albery, Ledeboer spent six months on building sites in the City of London, learning in a hands on way from contact with foremen, clerks of works, and the wider building trades.
Career
One of Ledeboer's early inspirations was the architect
Elisabeth Scott, whom she assisted on the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (now the
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakespea ...
) in
Stratford-upon-Avon.
[ Ledeboer went into practice with David Booth in 1939 as Booth and Ledeboer,] where she mainly worked on small residential projects. She left the firm in 1941 to work for the Ministry of Health through World War II. She was the first female employee of the ministry to be responsible for housing,[ and was secretary of the Dudley and Burt committees on ]public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, def ...
.[
In 1946, Ledeboer left the Ministry of Health and returned to practice with Booth. In 1956, John Pinckheard became a partner in the firm and it became Booth, Ledeboer, and Pinckheard.][ The firm was based in London and Oxford and its main clients were universities and in the public sector.][ Some of the university projects on which Ledeboer worked were the Institute of Archaeology and Classical Studies at the ]University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
(1953–1958), the Waynflete Building of Magdalen College
Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...
at the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
(1961–1964), and Magdalen College School (1966), also part of Magdalen College.[ Booth and Ledeboer's work in the public sector included hospitals, factories, offices and a number of schools, including the ]Dragon School
("Reach for the Sun")
, established = 1877
, closed =
, type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Emma Goldsm ...
and Headington School
Headington School is an independent girls' school in Headington, Oxford, England, founded by a group of evangelical Christians in 1915. The ''Good Schools Guide'' called Headington "A delightful school, hichnurtures and entertains its pupils wh ...
, both in Oxford.[
Ledeboer designed several housing complexes in London for the ]Lewisham
Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in the London Plan as one of ...
and Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...
Borough Councils. The project for which she is best known is the elderly home on the Lansbury Estate
The Lansbury Estate is a large, historic council housing estate in Poplar and Bromley-by-Bow in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is named after George Lansbury, a Poplar councillor and Labour Party MP.
History
Lansbury Estate is one ...
in Poplar, London, which she designed for the Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people:
...
in 1951. She designed a neighbourhood unit in Hemel Hempstead
Hemel Hempstead () is a town in the Dacorum district in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of London, which is part of the Greater London Urban Area. The population at the 2011 census was 97,500.
Developed after the Second World War as a new ...
in 1950–1955, comprising houses, flats, maisonettes and shops.[
Ledeboer left private practice in 1970 but remained an active member of the ]Royal Institute of British Architects
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
and the Landscape Institute until the mid-1970s. She died in 1990 at her home in Hambledon, Surrey
Hambledon is a rural scattered village in the Waverley borough of Surrey, situated south of Guildford. It is dominated by a buffer zone of fields and woodland, mostly south of the Greensand Ridge escarpment between Witley and Chiddingfold, ha ...
.[
]
Legacy
Ledeboer was described by Lynne Walker in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'' as "one of the most significant voices in post-war housing policy". She was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in 1966.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledeboer, Judith
1901 births
1990 deaths
20th-century English architects
British women architects
20th-century Dutch architects
Dutch women architects
People from Almelo
People from the City of Winchester
Architects from Hampshire
Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge
Alumni of Bedford College, London
People educated at Wimbledon High School
People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College
Radcliffe College alumni
20th-century Dutch women
Dutch emigrants to the United Kingdom