House Blocks, Canniesburn Hospital, Switchback Road, Bearsden

The Canniesburn Hospital was built as an Auxiliary Hospital for the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, designed by James Miller, with plans likely prepared around 1930. Construction began in 1935, and the hospital opened in 1938. Situated in a then semi-rural/suburban area, the hospital's setting is now characterised by trees and lawns. The design follows European principles of the interwar period, utilising 'horizontal' planning—a style Miller had previously introduced to Britain at Stirling Hospital—and a streamlined modern aesthetic. The Canniesburn Hospital is one of the few examples of this type built in the country.

The main complex consists of three distinct linked two-story blocks, all with harled walls and brick detailing. They feature metal-framed windows with horizontal glazing patterns and flat roofs concealed by parapets. Each block has deep, canopied entrances, centrally placed on its north front.

The block closest to the west, likely designated for convalescents, has a long, symmetrical facade with a taller three-story centre entrance range. This is linked by continuous first-floor balconies to projecting end ranges. The construction is framed with narrow uprights dividing the facade, featuring large windows, some of which are ‘French windows’. The rear elevations have fewer windows, except for a bowed full-height staircase bay in the northeast corner; the rear wing steps to follow the slope of the site.

The block nearest the east has a deep U-plan front with wings terminating in three single-bay sections (a fire escape has been added). The construction is similar to the west block’s front, but with less extensive use of French windows. The first-floor balcony features a metal parapet. A long, low, and narrow ward is situated in the centre of the courtyard. At the rear, a low range connects to a tall, rectangular-plan building with a symmetrical north front.

The central block comprises two tall ranges linked by a single-story connection. This lower link has a west-facing entrance. The front of the central block is largely obscured at ground level by a modern addition. However, full-height, fully-glazed staircase bays are visible at each end, flanked by flagpoles and featuring a wide first-floor window.

Near the main entrance stand a lodge and a pair of two-story houseblocks, designed in a neo-Georgian English style. These buildings are brick-faced, with flat arches over the windows and piended, deep-eaved tile roofs. They have flush glazing with 16 panes per sash.

The lodge has a central ridge stack, with first-floor windows cut through the eaves. The houseblocks are symmetrical, each with a piend roof, flat front, and a rectangular plan. They each have a six-bay front, a wide central porch, and end stacks on projecting chimney breasts.