A key figure in public sector architecture, Mary Medd (née Crowley) is most noted for her contribution to Hertfordshire’s progressive school-building programme.

Her career path may have been influenced by her father, Dr Ralph Crowley, who worked at the Board of Education and wrote about school-building. What is certain is that her style of work was shaped by her passion for Scandinavian design, which she said: ‘goes right through architecture to the washing-up bowl’.

In her early career, Medd worked with the prominent Modern Movement architect Ernö Goldfinger. From 1934-6, she was commissioned to design the group of houses at Orchard Road for her extended family. The project is a rare example of her residential work and earned a mention in F.R.S Yorke’s celebrated book ‘The Modern House In England’. Medd’s careful attention to the needs of the occupants attracted interest, and this approach would become the hallmark of her school buildings.

During the 1940s she began working with Bruce Martin and her future husband, David Medd. Their projects, notably St Crispin’s Secondary School in Wokingham, profoundly influenced school planning in post-war Britain, winning them international acclaim. In 1964, Mary and David Medd were jointly awarded an OBE.

Mary Medd 1907-2005.