Former North Lodge, 7 Madinah Road, E8

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This 19th-century lodge building was originally part of the German Hospital, which was built in 1863. Built in 1876 it is located at the north entrance of the former hospital complex. The hospital’s architects TL Donaldson and EA Gruning most probably designed this building as they also designed the statutorily listed West Lodge on Ritson Road. The north lodge is a detached, two-storey red brick building with steeply pitched hipped tiled roof with overhanging eaves and decorative terracotta ridge tiles with fleur-de-lys terminations. It has a stone projecting string course at the first floor and stone heads and mullions to windows. Gabled dormer to west pitch with stone ball finials. Hipped tiled porch with non-original render walls. A non-original, single-storey lean-to extension has been added to north. The lodge was converted into housing in the late 1980s/early 90s and forms part of a modern development designed by Hunt Thompson Associates.

Picturesque

Victorian (1838-1901)

healthcare; entrance lodge

Despite the unsympathetic refurbishment this former lodge retains a lot of its original character. Much of this building’s interest lies in it being part of the German Hospital - a unique and progressive institution that provided healthcare in Hackney from 1863 to 1987. The real significance of the German Hospital however lies not in its architectural style but in its plan and overall conception. The German Hospital was one of the earliest hospitals in England designed on the principles of Florence Nightingale’s pavilion plan. This lodge building is significant as it contributes to the overall unity of this historic layout, which has remained visible and more or less intact, unlike most other Victorian hospitals, despite its change of use. Other buildings in the complex are statutorily listed.