Standing Building Recording
Date 4 May 2016 - 10 June 2016
Event ID 1187344
Category Recording
Type Standing Building Recording
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1187344
The Western Infirmary Phase 1 was designed by Keppie, Henderson & Partners in 1964. Work eventually started on site in 1972, but it was not fully completed until late 1974. A proposed Phase 2 hospital was never started. The contractor was John Laing Construction and the engineers Ove Arup & Partners. The Conservation Plan notes that the Phase 1 hospital had a ‘racetrack’ plan, with hospital wards arranged in a ring around a central service core. This arrangement was a clear deviation from the long-established ‘Nightingale’ arrangement that had persisted through the 19th and early 20th centuries. The racetrack plan started to be used in Scotland from the late 1950s and was primarily chosen for its efficiency both in terms of building costs and also in the management and provision of care. The imposing steel framed and cast-concrete clad building occupies a near rectangular plan with a central three bay outshot wing on it north-facing elevation. A lower block and glass-fronted walkway occupies the base of the south-facing elevation.
Information from M. Cressey - CFA Archaeology Ltd.
OASIS ID: cfaarcha1-256203
