ROYAL HALIFAX INFIRMARY BLOCKS 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 08, 10, 20, 22, 35, 38

Royal Halifax Infirmary Blocks 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 08, 10, 20, 22, 35, 38

Hospital built between 1892 and 1896 by the architects Worthington & Elgood of Manchester, with mid-20th century alterations and additions. The buildings are constructed of rockfaced stone with ashlar dressings and feature gabled and hipped slate roofs in the Renaissance Revival style.

The complex is planned symmetrically around a central axis, which comprises an administration block, admission buildings, a central hall and kitchen, with wards arranged parallel to the main axis and linked by a cross corridor. The end wards are paired, with the rear ward in each pair extending beyond the corridor.

The front buildings display the most elaborate architectural features. The administration block is 2 storeys plus attics and garrets, with 7 windows arranged in a 2:3:2 pattern and 4 coped side wall stacks. It has a slightly recessed centre flanked by gabled wings. The centrepiece is a round arched portico with parapet and finials, covering panelled double doors. Above this sit 3 cross-mullioned windows, followed by 3 large gabled dormers, each containing a cross-mullioned window and a smaller window above it. The side wings feature 4-light cross-mullioned windows on the lower floors with smaller 3-light windows above. The attics have a hipped bay window of 2 lights flanked by single lights. The returns incorporate a square single storey projection with parapet and flat roof, a 4-light window, a slightly projecting gable to its left, and an external stack to its right.

The admission buildings are single storey with hipped roofs, including a hipped glazed porte-cochere to the main entrance on the left. The central hall has a quadrangular plan rising 2 to 3 storeys with coped ridge stacks. The kitchen, set to the rear, features a large stack and clerestory roof.

The wards and cross corridor are single storey, with round arched arcaded basements whose openings are now mainly glazed or blocked. The 4 wards towards the front have cruciform end pavilions, each with a projecting central bay topped by a pedimented gable and a canted oriel window of 4 lights. Basement openings include some with Diocletian windows, while above are 2 transomed windows. Side elevations display 10 similar windows. The left side of the left block in each pair features a cast iron balcony on columns, now glazed. At the end of each ward adjoining the corridor stands a slightly projecting block of 4 windows with a hipped roof. The wards beyond the corridor have similar blocks, with their far ends left plain. The cross corridor arcade varies with the site's slope, descending from left to right, with windows being wooden cross casements. Beyond the corridor to the left are 2 operating theatres, single storey plus basement, with hipped roofs and ventilation cowls.

Interior details include a central lobby in the administration block with a glazed screen and doors and a panelled cross-beam ceiling supported on Doric columns. Flanking the entrance are a board room and library with cornices and doorcases featuring entablatures. At each end of the lobby are plain wooden open-well stairs. At the rear, a corridor is flanked by angled windows with stained glass depicting commerce and industry, dated 1896. The central hall, 2 storeys high, has a wooden balcony on all sides and a hipped skylight. The cross corridor features an elliptical vault.