Gillian Hopwood obituary

Margaret Gillian Hopwood, born 27 June 1927; died 6 November 2025

By Alan Powers

THE architect Gillian Hopwood, who has died aged 98, only recently found recognition in her home country, England, after a career spent since 1954 in Nigeria. As Godwin and Hopwood, she and her husband, John Godwin, worked together as equals in a partnership that long outlasted the larger London-based practices that briefly flourished there in the years leading up to independence in 1960.

Jill and John met while studying at the Architectural Association (AA) in London in ...war period. On the teaching staff there were members of Architects’ Co-Partnership (ACP), a firm founded by prewar AA students, and after graduation Jill and John joined a newly established ACP branch office in Lagos, Nigeria’s capital city at the time. After 18 months they decided to remain, but as an independent practice. The combined home and office they built at 27 Boyle Street on Lagos Island, a “tropical modernist” design with innovative passive cooling, showed their commitment. Keeping government hours of 8am to 2pm with their staff, they took the afternoon off, but worked again after dinner from 9pm to midnight, and produced around 1,000 buildings during their time in practice.

The Christ Church Cathedral school, Lagos, one of Jill’s projects.

Projects were collaborative but also involved the two principals in separate design and supervision. Nigerian independence was set for 1960, and a rapid school-building programme began. Jill’s contribution included Christ Church Cathedral school, Surulere School for the Blind and Yaba Model school, all in Lagos. Before the couple’s children, Tony and Carey, went to school, Jill was less free than John to travel long distances to supervise building sites. However, as she said, “I always had a job on my board,” exercising her talent for meticulously organising drawings and papers at the office, and taking photographs of a professional standard of old Lagos and new buildings.

Other jobs included flats for employees of the Metal Box Company, in 1961, and Bookshop House, Lagos, in 1973, or “my big building”, as she called it. It was there that a “bumptious electrician” questioned her authority and was told by the contractor: “She puts it in a site meeting note – you treat it like the Bible, you do it!” This 16-storey cubic office with deep shading fins and aluminium louvres stands obliquely on a three-storey podium to get optimum sun orientation. By the 1980s, there were fewer commissions and Jill retired from working in practice in 1997.

On arrival in Lagos, some months ahead of Jill, John had joined the multinational Island Club, marking his commitment to integration – shared equally with Jill – in the still-colonial country. Travelling out after John by ship, Jill made important friendships that led to her joining the Business and Professional Women’s Association organisation. In 1963, she was deputed to ask the prime minister, Tafawa Balewa, for funds to convert empty houses near the yacht club into a children’s home – and completed the conversion with nine shillings left in the budget. She also became the first non-government and non-commercial member, and vice-president, of the Ladies’ Dining Club. Later, she worked her way up to become president of the Soroptimist International (SI) women’s network in Nigeria in 1990-91.

The construction of flats for workers at the Metal Box Company, 1963

GILLIAN was born in Rochdale. Her mother, Hilda (nee Kershaw), was an academically trained electrical engineer but did not work after she married. Her father, Edward Hopwood, also an electrical engineer, was a designer for the Queensway tunnel under the River Mersey and later for Philips at Eindhoven. In 1935, the family moved from Lancashire to Woodford, Essex, where Gillian attended Loughton high school and the co-educational Friends’ school in Saffron Walden during the second world war years.

On her first day at the AA in 1945, she set up her drawing board one row ahead of Godwin. When he asked her to marry him in 1951, she replied: “I suppose so.” After enjoying their adventurous life together and weathering the political upheavals in Nigeria, they retired in 2017 to a terrace house in Cheltenham with their complete archive, later given to the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal. The practice continues in Lagos as Godwin Hopwood Kuye.

They were individually recorded for the National Life Stories project’s Architects’ Lives in 2020, and in 2024 Ben Tosland’s study of their work, Who Are Godwin and Hopwood? Exploring Tropical Architecture in the Age of the Climate Crisis, based on documents and further interviews, brought them the recognition they had long deserved.

John died in 2023. Jill is survived by Tony and Carey.

Margaret Gillian Hopwood, born 27 June 1927; died 6 November 2025

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/dec/05/gillian-hopwood-obituary

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A Pioneer Passes: Remembering Gillian Godwin, Architectural Icon and Champion of Nigerian Heritage

Gillian Godwin’s life was a treasure trove of architectural achievement, cultural documentation, and selfless service. She leaves behind a remarkable legacy that will continue to inspire architects, historians, and heritage enthusiasts for generations

Dr Adebunmi Akinbo

NIGERIA mourns the passing of a true pioneer, Gillian (Jill) Godwin (née Hopwood), who peacefully departed on November 6, 2025, at the age of 98. Born in Rochdale, England, on June 27, 1927, Jill Godwin’s extraordinary life journey seamlessly intertwined her architectural brilliance with a profound dedication to Nigerian culture and heritage.

A distinguished architect, Jill qualified from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in 1950, the same year she became a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. It was there she met her future husband and lifelong collaborator, John Godwin. Their marriage in 1951 marked the beginning of a partnership that would profoundly shape Nigeria’s urban landscape.

In 1954, Jill joined John in Nigeria, and within a year, they established their groundbreaking architectural firm, Godwin and Hopwood, in Lagos. The firm, which later became Godwin, Hopwood and Kuye (GHK) in 1989, became a crucible for architectural talent, mentoring countless young professionals who went on to achieve significant careers. Jill was not just a partner; she was a principal designer and supervisor for many of their most iconic structures, including St. Mary’s School Lagos, the Godwin and Hopwood Boyle Street Office, Allen & Hanbury House, Bookshop House, WAEC Building Yaba, Niger House, and Guinness Breweries. Her contributions were recognized with a Fellowship of the Nigerian Institute of Architects.

Beyond her architectural practice, Jill was a tireless volunteer. She served on the Corona Schools Trust Council and held various leadership positions, including President (1990-1991), within Soroptimist International. Her immense contributions to Nigeria were officially acknowledged in 2008 with the Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR), followed by her acquisition of Nigerian citizenship in 2011 – a testament to her deep integration and love for the nation.

Jill’s collaborative spirit extended to her literary work with John. Their significant books, The Architecture of Demas Nwoko (2007), Sandbank City – Lagos at 150 (2012), and A Photographer’s Odyssey – Lagos Island 1954-2014 (2015), have become invaluable resources for understanding Nigeria’s history, architecture, and urban evolution. Ben Tosland’s 2023 monograph, Who Are Godwin and Hopwood, further explores their pioneering form of tropical modernism.

A lifelong passion for photography, sparked at the age of eight, became a crucial tool in Jill’s documentation of Nigeria. Arriving in 1954, she meticulously captured the changing face of Lagos, from the striking indigo textiles worn by local women to the rapid demolition of historic buildings. Her photographs, often developed in her own makeshift darkroom, formed the basis of her Odyssey and featured in numerous exhibitions, preserving vital visual records for future generations.

Jill’s “behind-the-scenes” contributions to Legacy, an organization dedicated to heritage preservation, were immense. From its nascent stages in the early 1990s, she provided strategic insights. Later, her meticulous efforts led the digitalization and cataloguing of the Baba Shettima photographic collection – over 3,000 negatives spanning the 1940s to 1970s. This culminated in the acclaimed “Nigeria in Transition” exhibition in 2008, showcasing her dedication to saving crucial historical archives.

Known for her sharp attention to detail, eagerness to embrace new technology, and generous spirit in sharing knowledge, Jill Godwin inspired many, often guiding those much younger than herself. Her perceptive wisdom, sharp wit, and warm hospitality will be profoundly missed by all who knew her.

Gillian Godwin’s life was a treasure trove of architectural achievement, cultural documentation, and selfless service. She leaves behind a remarkable legacy that will continue to inspire architects, historians, and heritage enthusiasts for generations. She is survived by her son, Tony, and daughter, Carey.

https://www.updates.legacy1995.ng/2025/11/12/a-pioneer-passes-remembering-gillian-godwin-architectural-icon-and-champion-of-nigerian-heritage/

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…An enduring treasure

Kofo Adeleke

GILLIAN (Jill) Hopwood was born on June 27 1927, in Rochdale, England, and peacefully passed away on November 6, 2025. She studied architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, where she met John Godwin, a fellow student, and they both qualified in 1950. Jill became a member of the Royal Institute of British
Architects in 1950. They got married in 1951.

In February 1954, John left for Nigeria to work for Architects Co-Partnership and Jill joined him in March. And for the next 18 months, they lived on Brickfield Road, in Ebute Metta. Shortly after that, in 1955, they decided to set up their own architectural firm, Godwin and Hopwood, which later became Godwin, Hopwood and Kuye (GHK) in 1989.

Over many years, a large number of young architects gained invaluable experience working at Godwin and Hopwood, and several went on to build very successful careers and became highly notable. Among the very large number of significant buildings built by Godwin and Hopwood are St Mary’s School, Lagos, Godwin and Hopwood Boyle Street Office (1958), Allen & Hanbury House in Tinubu Square (1959), Bookshop House (1972), WAEC Building Yaba, Niger House, Lagos, and Guinness Breweries.

Jill was responsible for the design and supervision of many of them, and she also became a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects. She was involved in many voluntary activities; she served on the Corona Schools Trust Council, and as a member of Soroptimist International, she served in several capacities, including Vice President and President 1990-1991. Jill became a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) in 2008. In 2011, she gained Nigerian citizenship.

Jill and John collaborated on a number of significant books, which include The Architecture of Demas Nwoko (2007), Sandbank City – Lagos at 150 (2012) and A Photographers Odyssey – Lagos Island 1954-2014 (2015), a pictorial history of Lagos. All of these books are keenly sought after and have become an important resource for historians, architects and urban planners.

Who Are Godwin and Hopwood by Ben Tosland, published in 2023 is described as a comprehensive monograph about the tropical architecture of Godwin and Hopwood in Nigeria, and explores the careers of both John and Jill and examines their form of tropical modernism.

From her childhood, when aged eight, she was given a camera, photography became a lifelong passion for Jill. Almost immediately upon arrival in Nigeria in 1954, she started taking photographs of what she saw. The films from many of her 1950s collection were developed by her in a dark cupboard and then sent to London to be printed. These photographs form the basis of her book A Photographer’s Odyssey. One of the first impressions Jill had of Lagos was the predominance of the locally woven dark blue indigo dyed cloth worn by people, especially women, and she quickly developed an interest in indigenous Nigerian textiles. As an architect, photography was an additional valuable skill she had.

In the 1950s and 1960s, buildings were rapidly being demolished to make way for new structures, and along with measured drawings, photographic records helped to document these buildings. Her photography featured in a number of exhibitions, including those held at the Island Club, National Museum Lagos and the Wheatbaker Hotel.

Behind the scenes, Jill contributed an enormous amount to Legacy. In the very early 1990s when the seeds of Legacy were being planted, she regularly participated in meetings and made valuable contributions to the strategy. In the later years, she put in just as much effort but supported Legacy’s activities more from behind the scenes. The Baba Shettima collection, which contains photographic images spanning from the 1940s to the 1970s, was reproduced by Legacy from a collection of over 3,000 negatives. The photographer, Alhaji Baba Shettima, gave Legacy permission to use them for exhibition purposes. Jill led the effort to save this important archive, which involved years of meticulous work focused on digital scanning and the production of a detailed catalogue, which resulted in a Legacy exhibition, Nigeria in Transition, held at the Brazilian Consulate in 2008.

Jill’s sharp attention to detail was second to none; her eagerness and ability to learn new things even much later in her life is a salutary lesson to all. She embraced computer technology and the digital age; her instant willingness to share knowledge often resulted in her helping people much younger than herself to get to grips with new methods and ideas. Her fabulous, sharp wit, perceptive wisdom and great hospitality will be deeply missed, but the enduring treasures embodied in her life’s work will continue to inspire.

Jill is survived by her son Tony, and daughter Carey.