Paisley, Hawkhead Hospital, Laundry Block, Central Range

LAUNDRY BLOCK: single block on gently sloping site. Long ridge ventilator over central section. Original metal-framed windows survive.

Paisley Burgh Council acquired the site on the Hawkhead estate for the new infectious diseases hopital in 1932. A competition was held for the design which was awarded to Sir John Burnet, Tait and Lorne. In 1933, the firm's Royal Masonic Hospital at Ravenscourt in London was newly completed, to international acclaim. Tait further explored this style at Hawkhead and included this pioneering cubicle isolation block, a new development in ward design in which different types of infectious disease could be treated within the same ward for the first time. The Hospital was officially opened on 7 July 1936, and provided 181 beds for patients together with staff accommodation. The external finish to the buildings was originally "Brizolit", a finer textured rough cast designed not to crack or craze. Photographs of the buildings published in the booklet to accompany the official opening show that the blocks were bright and white originally, this was set off by the turqoise, green, yellow and black tile-work. (Historic Scotland)