The Midland Bank, 27-35 Poultry stands on

Poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

. It was built between 1924 and 1929 as the headquarters offices of the

Midland Bank Midland Bank plc was one of the Big Four (banks)#United Kingdom, Big Four banking groups in the United Kingdom for most of the 20th century. It is now part of HSBC. The bank was founded as the Birmingham and Midland Bank in Union Street, Birming ...

. The architect was

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

. A

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, its

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

record describes it as one of Lutyens' "finest urban buildings". It is now a hotel, The Ned, named in Lutyens' honour.

History and description

The Birmingham and Midland Bank was founded by

Charles Geach Charles Geach (1808 – 1 November 1854) was an English businessman, industrialist, banker and politician of the early to mid-19th century, strongly associated with banking and manufacturing interests. He was a co-founder and the first general m ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in 1836. In under a century, through a long series of amalgamations, and the establishment of a successful overseas business, it had become the largest bank in the world. Renamed the Midland Bank in 1923, in 1924 it commissioned a new headquarters building on

in the

. The architect was

. The first building was completed by 1929, but Lutyens returned to undertake a major expansion between 1935 and 1937. Following the Midland's financial decline in the late 20th century, it was absorbed into

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc ( zh, t_hk=滙豐; initialism from its founding member The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is a British universal bank and financial services group headquartered in London, England, with historical and business li ...

in 1992 and the Poultry headquarters was vacated and subsequently sold. The building was repurposed, and opened as a hotel, named "The Ned" in Lutyens' honour, in 2017. The building's restoration, a partnership between

Soho House Soho House is a museum run by Birmingham Museums Trust, celebrating Matthew Boulton's life, his partnership with James Watt, his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham and his contribution to the Midlands Enlightenment and the Indust ...

and the Sydell Hotels Group, has drawn praise from both architectural critics and travel writers. Lutyens' connection to the Midland Bank came through

Reginald McKenna Reginald McKenna (6 July 1863 – 6 September 1943) was a British banker and Liberal politician. His first Cabinet post under Henry Campbell-Bannerman was as President of the Board of Education, after which he served as First Lord of the Admira ...

, a senior politician who became the bank's chairman in 1919. McKenna was married to a niece of

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British Horticulture, horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United Sta ...

, Lutyens' long-time collaborator, and Lutyens had been commissioned to design the McKenna's London townhouse,

Mulberry House Mulberry House, Number 36, Smith Square, is located in the City of Westminster, London. It was built in 1911 as a private house for Reginald McKenna, a politician and later Chairman of the Midland Bank. The architect was Edwin Lutyens. In 1930 th ...

, in

Smith Square Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden square, garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a English Baroque, Baroque surplus church, the inside of w ...

in 1912. On McKenna's accession to the chairmanship of the Midland, he engaged Lutyens to design the bank's new headquarters. The building is listed at Grade I by

, which considers it one of Lutyens' "finest urban buildings".

Footnotes

References

{{reflist Grade I listed buildings in the City of London Works of Edwin Lutyens in England