Service Block And Kitchens, Seaforth Centre

Service Block and Kitchens, Seaforth Centre

This service block forms part of the Seaforth Sanatorium, designed by Robert Macbeth of Ross & Macbeth and built between 1906 and 1908 (with a datestone of 1907). The sanatorium was constructed as a half-butterfly plan institution for the treatment of tuberculosis patients from the counties of Ross and Cromarty, funded by Colonel Stewart Mackenzie of Seaforth and his wife Mary Margaret.

The service block is sited opposite the entrance to the main building. It is a single-storey structure on a T-plan, with materials and details matching the principal building. The block comprises a taller central main section with lower flanking wings. It is harled with ashlar base course, band and cill courses, quoin strips and margins. The return elevations feature pedimented dormerheads in ornate ashlar.

The sanatorium complex remains little altered since its original construction. The main administrative block is two storeys with three bays, the centre bay advanced. The ward wings are single storey with gambrel roofs. All principal elevations display Scottish 17th century style details, including timber mullions and transoms, pedimented dormer windows with oculi on flanks, and tall corniced ashlar-dressed wallhead stacks with fireclay cans. The roofs are grey slate with piended profiles and sweeping eaves. Windows are predominantly plate glass sash and case type, with some casements.

The complex was designed on the butterfly plan to maximise sunshine, with French windows providing external access. An associated porter's lodge, single storey with attic and jerkin roof, is presumably part of the original concept.