Front of Original Hospital

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Attached symmetrical multi-bay single-storey red brick original hospital entrance, built c.1901, with transverse Old Corridor abutting the rear on an east west axis connecting to a engine room to the east end. Irregular on plan facing north into a courtyard enclosed by the Musgrave wing to the north and the east and west wings (HB26/32/001K). All wards leading off the Old Corridor have been demolished (HB26/32/001A), although to the E two of the original three-stage square towers are retained near to the engine room, with modern metal clad building attached to N.

Pitched natural slate roofs with lead ridges and valleys. Raised central section has a timber louvered lantern to its ridge surmounted by a lead-lined dome and finial. The Old Corridor also has a natural slate roof with lead ridge and a series of fixed-pane skylights to angled eaves on either side. Moulded cast-iron guttering supported on dentilated sandstone ashlar eaves course and cast-iron downpipes. Redbrick walling laid in Flemish bond with sandstone dressings. Largely square-headed window openings with single-pane timber sash windows having ogee horns and moulded sandstone sills.

Symmetrical north front elevation comprising a central double-height gabled entrance bay with entrance portico, flanked by two recessed bays in turn flanked by a pair of advanced gabled projections. All three gables are framed by red brick and flush sandstone engaged pillars supporting open-base dentilated pediments. Venetian window openings to the both side gables executed in ashlar sandstone with the central arched window supported on columns; fixed fanlight to the arch. The small recessed bays are enclosed by decorative sandstone renaissance style balustrades and later decorative iron railings. The central gable is abutted by a flat-roofed portico comprising a depressed central arch supported on paired sandstone blocked columns and full-span sandstone lintel surmounted by deep cornice. A shallow scrolled and dentilated pediment over the central opening has a copper globe supported on an elaborate scrolled keystone. Red brick parapet wall over the portico has moulded sandstone coping. The cheeks to the portico have diminutive square-headed window openings with sandstone surrounds and decorative leaded stained glazing in Art Nouveau style. The floor of the portico is ramped in concrete with replacement timber doors having glazed upper panes. The central double height entrance bay has 6 small square windows 3 either side of the lower ridges with continuous, flush sandstone lintel and cill.

The east side elevation is blank and abutted by a later single-storey over basement flat-roofed wing connecting the building to the East Wing (HB26/32/001K), having two camber-headed window openings with iron grilles and a lean-to canopy over the basement.

The rear elevation faces S and is abutted by a transverse corridor on an east-west axis terminating in a further wing to the east containing the Engine House. Two three-stage towers separated by a later duo-pitched extension abut the S elevation adjacent to this Engine House. A single round-headed former window opening is visible to the central gable overlooking the corridor.

The west elevation is blank and abutted by a further wing, built c.1950, connecting the building to the West Wing (HB26/32/001K).

The engine house to the east comprises a symmetrical gable-fronted red brick and sandstone block connected to the old Corridor via a taller block flanked by a pair of three-stage towers. This wing has pitched natural slate roofs with roll-moulded black clay ridge tiles, moulded cast-iron guttering and cast-iron downpipes with red brick walling. The North and South elevations have 7 square-headed openings with continuous flush sandstone lintel and sandstone sills. These have timber louvers, still visible although partly boarded up, these were originally the air intake grilles for the pioneering air conditioning system. The central 3 openings have a semi-circular window above with brick and sandstone arches.

The East/front elevation has a projecting central gabled bay with a central replacement timber double door with original timber framed multi paned over light, two sash windows either side with original multi-pane timber windows with bottom-hung over lights. A continuous lintel with a pedimented stone sits over the door, above which is a circular window with recessed brick circular opening and sandstone voussoirs. Six cast iron pattress plates equally spaced between windows. Three window openings to each side of the projecting bay, boarded up to the south side, the central opening to the north bay has been lowered to ground level and the window replaced with a steel roller shutter.

Roof : Natural slate
RWG : Cast-iron
Walling : Red brick and sandstone dressings
Windows: Timber sash

Setting

Located to the rear of the Musgrave Wing (HB26/32/001K) within an internal courtyard. Positioned to the north of an extensive hospital site bound by Grosvenor Road to the north, Falls Road to the west and the Westlink to the south and east. A bronze statue of Queen Victoria (HB26/32/001G), orginally positioned over the main door, now sits in the middle of the quadrangle immediately in front of this entrance.

Historical information

In the course of the nineteenth century Belfast expanded at a phenomenal rate. In 1800 its population stood at around 20,000. By 1841 it had reached 70,000 and in 1871 it had topped 120,000, while in 1911 it was 385,000, by some way the largest urban population in Ireland. As Belfast’s population rose, there was increasing pressure on its medical facilities, especially the Belfast Royal Hospital in Frederick Street. By the end of the 1800s it was clear that a new hospital was needed for Belfast.

The new hospital – the Royal Victoria Hospital – was erected through public subscriptions organised by the Rt Hon. W. J. Pirrie (later Lord Pirrie) and his wife Margaret. It was built at the junction of the Grosvenor and Falls Roads. In 1898 William Henman of Henman & Cooper who had previously been responsible for the Birmingham General Hospital. McLaughlin & Harvey won the contract to build the new hospital in September 1900. Henry Lea was the consulting engineer.

The foundation stone was formally laid early in 1901 and the new hospital was officially opened on 27 July 1903 by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra on their trip to Belfast during visit to Ireland.

Larmour (p. 67) calls the hospital a ‘building of international renown and a revolution in hospital design.’ The single-storey wards were placed side by side to take full advantage of the innovative Plenum system of forced ventilation. Coconut-fibre screens were used to clean the in-drawn air. The two fans that forced air through the ducts were made by Davidson’s Sirocco Engineering Works in Belfast.

A detailed history of the Plenum air-conditioning system compiled by the Royal Hospitals’ Estate Department states that the although architects Henman and Cooper of Birmingham are credited with the design, with Henry Lee as consulting engineer, the system bears striking similarities with the forced ventilation of ships employed at the Sirocco Works - the fans were manufactured by Samuel Cleland Davidson, who also installed and commissioned the entire system. What is clearly evident is that the architectural concept integrates building services within the overall form and that makes this a truly noteworthy building of special merit. A number of members on the board of managagement at the hospital were from ship-building backgrounds.

A pavilion style layout of hospitals was prevalent at the time of construction, with wards comprised within tall narrow buildings to facilitate cross ventilation. This did not lend itself to forced ventilation, however, as the large amount of exposed external wall was deemed inefficient and so a more compact plan form was sought after. The solution adopted is extremely innovative with maximum compactness combined with minimum duct length.

Reyner Banham’s three dimensional cut-away axonometric drawing best illustrates the concept. A single storey engine house to the E contains twin axial fans that draw clean air in from the outside via coconut coir screens. The fans are drawn via steam engines run by waste steam from the hospital laundry. The air is heated / cooled via coiled pipes and then driven along a 500 feet brick duct that runs below the length of the main corridor, tapering from nine feet at the E to six feet at the W. Branching off the main duct, a series of branch ducts, also in brick, ran at 90 degrees from just below ceiling level. These ran between parallel rows of top-lit wards and distributed clean air via risers to inlets at regularly intervals aligned with bed spaces. Stale air was extracted over head and discharged via octagonal louvered vents at the end of each ward. The long wards are now demolished to make way for a modern hospital building, but the engine house, duct and main corridor survive and the engine is in working order.

The main entrance of the original hospital was on the north side of the main ward block and was flanked by the east and west wings. These matching wings were four storeys high and were intended to be used for administration and to provide accommodation for nurses. When built they were the tallest buildings on the site. The Musgrave building, added later in 1925, was built in front of the former main entrance and formed a quadrangle with it and both the E and W wings.

The entrance hall was known as the ‘black and white hall’. Doors led off it to the connecting corridor of the main ward block and to the board room. Above it was a glass dome featuring signs of the zodiac. The stained glass and leaded lights were by W. J. Douglas of Ward & Partners.

At the opening of the new hospital in July 1903 a statue of Queen Victoria was unveiled. Made of bronze, the statue was originally positioned over the door of the original entrance to the hospital. It is now placed on the ground in front of this entrance.

Larmour notes that the original hospital was ‘very much a modern building’ in spite of its ‘Wrenaissance’ style. The Historic Buildings listing comments: ‘The buildings fronting the Grosvenor Road are handsome … Their continuing presence, apart from considerable architectural significance, provides familiarity and reassurance.’

References

Maps

Ordnance Survey 1:1,250 scale map, County Antrim sheet 60.12 (covering Falls Road area of Belfast), 1931 – reproduced by Alan Godfrey Maps (Gateshead, 1989)
1907, 1923 and 1937 Ordnance Survey maps reproduced in Clarke (see below)

Published sources

Robert Marshall, Fifty years on the Grosvenor Road: an account of the rise and progress of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast (Belfast, 1953)
Paul Larmour, Belfast: an illustrated architectural guide (Belfast, 1987)
R. S. J. Clarke, The Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast: a history, 1797-1997 (Belfast, 1997) – especially the Ordnance Survey maps (referred to above) and architectural plan of the hospital of 1902
Peter Reyner Banham, Guide to Modern Architecture. Architectural Press. 1962
The Royal Hospitals' Estates Department, 'The Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, 1903, Pioneers of Air-conditioning.' (leaflet for EHOD, not dated)

Online sources

Dictionary of Irish Architects: www.dia.ie – which
references Irish Builder, 15 October, 1 December 1899; 15 January, 1 February, 15 August 1900; 23 May, 7 November 1901; 23 April, 30 July, 13 August 1903

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
G. Innovatory Qualities
H-. Alterations detracting from building

Criteria for listing: historic interest

V. Authorship
W. Northern Ireland/International Interest
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
Z. Rarity
R. Age
S. Authenticity
T. Historic Importance
U. Historic Associations

Evaluation

Attached symmetrical multi-bay single-storey red brick original hospital entrance together with transverse Old Corridor abutting the rear on an east west axis connected to the original engine house, built c.1901, in a style loosely described as ‘Wrenaissance’. Although attributed to Henman & Cooper, the pioneering design adopts techniques employed in ship-building that suggests a strong influence from Samuel Davidson of the Sirocco Works. It was considered revolutionary at the time of construction and it is therefore a truly noteworthy building of special merit. This was the first public building in the world with air-conditioning for human comfort and it is extremely innovative with a compact plan form adopted to suit the plenum system. Environmental services have clearly been integrated within the architectural concept from the outset and despite the loss of the original main wards (HB26/32/001A) that the air-conditioning was intended to serve, the engine house, fans and duct that runs below the full length of the Old Corridor all remain intact. In addition, the sumptuous, dark interior of the Black and White Hall and the naturally lit Old Corridor have retained much of their internal and external fabric with a wealth of history commemorated in the form of plaques, tablets and busts. This is an efficient building that is well structured and ordered yet with attention to detail which is both rational and elegant, aptly described by Larmour as 'reassuring'. Built to accommodate the rapidly expanding population following the industrial expansion of the city, it forms an important part of the wider Royal Victoria Hospital (HB26/32/001A-L). E.