Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hancock Building

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital was designed by F H Patterson with the guidance of chief architect H J Cook. Construction began in June 1939 and the hospital opened in March 1948. The original brick buildings are architecturally modest. A three-storeyed multi-purpose main blcok housed the outpatients department, general wards, operating suite and X-Ray department, plus offices, kitchens and stores. There was also a single-storeyed maternity unit and new isolation hospital in a detached position close to the main gate with its pair of lodges. Services (laundry etc) were housed in a complex of buildings between the main blcok and new isolation hospital. The hospital has been enlarged and remodelled several times. The former Isolation Wing, built 1938-40 is on the Local List. Local List entry - This former Isolation Wing has considerable interest as a purpose-built mid 20th century health building, and for its restrained, streamlined appearance with Art Deco influences.
Originally built as part of the Sheriff Hill Infectious Diseases Hospital, it has also been previously used as nurses’ residences. Constructed in red brick, it is monumental in appearance (reminiscent of a cruise ship?) with a strong horizontality emphasised by a flat roof and stone cill band to the ground floor, as well as concrete string courses to the 2nd floor. The ascending piers of the bold stone Art deco style door surround balance the composition, however, as does the vertical glazing of the flanking cylindrical stair towers. Unfortunately the original windows have been replaced with plastic frames, but the essential character of the building is still intact as it has not been encroached upon by modern additions. Arthur Radsham, children’s illustrator, made a drawing of the building. ARCHITECT F H Patterson under guidance from H J Cook DATES 1940 LOCAL LIST