diff --git a/src/middleware/admin.js b/src/middleware/admin.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..bbd8850ccb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/middleware/admin.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+"use strict";
+
+var app,
+	middleware = {},
+	nconf = require('nconf'),
+	user = require('./../user'),
+	plugins = require('./../plugins');
+
+
+middleware.isAdmin = function (req, res, next) {
+	user.isAdministrator((req.user && req.user.uid) ? req.user.uid : 0, function (err, isAdmin) {
+		if (!isAdmin) {
+			res.status(403);
+			res.redirect('/403');
+		} else {
+			next();
+		}
+	});
+};
+
+middleware.buildHeader = function (req, res, callback) {
+	var custom_header = {
+		'plugins': [],
+		'authentication': []
+	};
+
+	user.getUserFields(req.user.uid, ['username', 'userslug', 'picture'], function(err, userData) {
+		plugins.fireHook('filter:admin.header.build', custom_header, function(err, custom_header) {
+			callback(err, templates['admin/header'].parse({
+				csrf: res.locals.csrf_token,
+				relative_path: nconf.get('relative_path'),
+				plugins: custom_header.plugins,
+				authentication: custom_header.authentication,
+				userpicture: userData.picture,
+				username: userData.username,
+				userslug: userData.userslug,
+				'cache-buster': meta.config['cache-buster'] ? 'v=' + meta.config['cache-buster'] : '',
+				env: process.env.NODE_ENV ? true : false
+			}));
+		});
+	});
+};
+
+
+
+module.exports = function(webserver) {
+	app = webserver;
+	return middleware;
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/middleware/middleware.js b/src/middleware/middleware.js
index 1f10f192cb..cd0c2edd2a 100644
--- a/src/middleware/middleware.js
+++ b/src/middleware/middleware.js
@@ -278,6 +278,8 @@ middleware.processRender = function(req, res, next) {
 		render.call(self, template, options, function(err, str) {
 			if (res.locals.footer) {
 				str = str + res.locals.footer;
+			} else if (res.locals.adminFooter) {
+				str = str + res.locals.adminFooter;
 			}
 
 			if (res.locals.renderHeader) {
@@ -291,6 +293,14 @@ middleware.processRender = function(req, res, next) {
 						fn(err, translated);
 					});
 				});
+			} else if (res.locals.renderAdminHeader) {
+				middleware.admin.renderHeader({
+					req: req,
+					res: res
+				}, function(err, template) {
+					str = template + str;
+					fn(err, str);
+				});
 			} else {
 				fn(err, str);
 			}
@@ -312,6 +322,7 @@ middleware.routeTouchIcon = function(req, res) {
 
 module.exports = function(webserver) {
 	app = webserver;
+	middleware.admin = require('./admin')(webserver);
 
 	plugins.ready(function() {
 		// Minify client-side libraries
diff --git a/src/routes/admin.js b/src/routes/admin.js
index dbab9507d9..cc733c1621 100644
--- a/src/routes/admin.js
+++ b/src/routes/admin.js
@@ -103,10 +103,8 @@ module.exports = function(app, middleware, controllers) {
 	}());
 
 	app.namespace('/admin', function () {
-		app.get('/', function (req, res) {
-			Admin.buildHeader(req, res, function(err, header) {
-				res.send(header + app.create_route('admin/index') + templates['admin/footer']);
-			});
+		app.get('/', middleware.buildHeader, function(req, res, next) {
+			res.render('admin/index', {});
 		});
 
 		app.get('/index', function (req, res) {