Birmingham Children's Hospital

Birmingham Children's Hospital

Birmingham Children's Hospital was built as Birmingham General Hospital between 1893 and 1897 to designs by William Henman. The building was extended and altered during the 20th century.

Materials and Construction

The original hospital is constructed of brick and terracotta with slate roofs.

Plan

The hospital follows a pavilion plan, with a central administrative block and six ward wings projecting from a central corridor. To the west, a connected block provided nurses' accommodation. Multiple additions have been made to the hospital building over time.

Exterior

The hospital is designed in a Romanesque gothic style, characterised by steeply sloping roofs and large towers positioned at the junctions between the administrative block and the wings. Smaller versions of these towers stand at the ends of each pavilion wing. The central towers are square at their lower levels and octagonal at their upper levels. They contain large windows with terracotta tracery that light the main stairs. The square sections are crowned by ornately decorated finials at their corners, with projecting piers rising through the upper levels between them, topped by smaller finials in the same style. Between these features are ventilation openings set in deeply recessed surrounds and rows of oculi at cornice level. The steeply sloping roofs are surmounted by ornate ventilation caps.

The fenestration throughout the original building varies in size but maintains a consistent style. Large windows, typically lighting the corridors, public spaces, and original non-medical areas, are generally of two or three lights with round tracery and occasional carved decoration to the spandrels. Some windows feature ballflower decoration to the mullions and transoms. All windows generally have carved detailing to their surrounds and cills, which in places shows hints of the Art Nouveau style. Sections of stained glass survive in windows throughout the building.

The main entrance is located at the centre of the original administration wing. The original façade of this block has been concealed beneath a later brick extension, though its central gable and finials remain visible above the extension's roof. The tall chimneys from the original top floor kitchens are visible behind. The extended façade is plain in character with windows set in cambered heads.

The pavilion wings have rows of tall, single windows along their long elevations. Between these windows are piers that rise the full height of the building and break through the parapet. These piers serve as ventilation shafts, each surmounted by a flue within carved finials topped with small domed caps. The ends of the wings feature towers that are smaller, slightly less ornate variations of the two principal towers. The rainwater goods rise full height and are incorporated into the design, rising centrally through the carved pediments that crown the towers. Between the towers are arcaded balconies and loggias at ground floor level, now largely filled in. Above the towers are gables with ornate terracotta and brickwork. Those facing the front of the hospital have a central large oculus with two smaller ones to either side, each with ornate tracery. The rear elevations of the pavilion wings and those away from the principal entrance follow the same general style but with less ornate treatment.

At the hospital's eastern end, a polygonal projection houses the lecture theatre, with operating theatres originally located at the upper level. This section has blind windows at the lower level, and the mullions to the windows here have a slight barley twist effect, a treatment repeated occasionally around the building. West of the main entrance, between two of the wings, the exterior of the chapel features a large rose window at its western end, traceried side windows, and deeply corbelled eaves.

At the western end of the hospital, a single storey conservatory in timber and iron connects the main hospital to the nurses' accommodation. The nurses' accommodation is housed in a large three-storey block in the same style as the main hospital. It has two gabled sections at its centre with canted bays at ground floor and recessed balconies above. Between the two gabled sections are carved terracotta panels between the floors. Five-bay wings extend to either side, each terminating in a further gabled end block matching the central pair. The northern end of this block has an early 20th-century extension projecting east, designed in much the same style as the original building. It rises five storeys with four central bays flanked by gabled blocks at each end.

Interior

The original layout of the hospital largely survives, with the central axial corridor connecting all the principal areas on each floor. The character of the interior is largely modernised and utilitarian, although historic decorative schemes of glazed tiles survive at stair cores and central public spaces, where there are large arches with tiled surrounds. Arches cross the central corridor at intervals with sections of stained glass above, denoting the original locations of ducting for the plenum ventilation system.

The two principal stairs survive in each of the main towers. These are wide, open-well stairs with decorative iron balustrades and timber handrails. As the stairs ascend, there are continuous leaded windows with slightly cusped heads set in wide reveals. The walls are tiled to dado height and the ceilings at the top of the staircases are of plaster with decorative cornicing. Arched lobbies with tiled decoration serve each floor on the main levels.

The outpatients' waiting hall largely retains its original interior, featuring a wide central space with aisles to each side and original decorative tiling, now painted white. The aisles are separated from the central space by tiled columns with decorative plaster capitals. Arched grills sit between the columns, with rows of clerestory windows containing stained glass above. At the northern end of the hall are two plaques commemorating the laying of the foundation stone and the opening of the hospital, along with a wall-mounted bust of Queen Victoria.

Beyond the outpatients' hall, at the eastern end of the hospital, is the lecture theatre, accessed at basement level and rising through two storeys. It has galleried seating separated from the stage space by simple columns, with arched balconies at each side featuring tiled handrails.

On the first floor, the chapel has two entrance doors off the central corridor with carved terracotta surrounds. The chapel walls are lined with light brown alabaster, also used for the altar rail and pulpit. It has a wide timber roof supported on carved corbels with carved panels between, and timber pews. There are several commemorative stained glass windows and a rose window at the western end, above a row of small single windows each containing commemorative stained glass. The 1952 Second World War memorial window is by AJ Davies of the Bromsgrove Guild.

At the western end of the hospital, the conservatory now serves as a cafe space. The former nurses' accommodation now contains offices but appears to retain many of its original doors, door surrounds, and a central open-well stair.

Subsidiary Features

The Steelhouse Lane side of the hospital is enclosed by boundary walls in brick and terracotta, with regular piers featuring highly ornate carved decoration to their octagonal upper sections. At the western end, the sections between the piers are in brick; in front of the main entrance forecourt they are in cast iron. The Whittall Street elevation has a similar but less ornate boundary wall adjacent to the nurses' accommodation block.