The Cruciform building was designed in
1896 by Alfred
Waterhouse RA (1830-1905) as a replacement building for
University College Hospital, which had an earlier building on
the Gower Street frontage of the same site. Waterhouse was one
of the most prolific architects of the Victorian era, by number
of built commissions. He had already designed and built over
30 buildings, including one for the Prudential Assurance Company,
as well as Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum
in Kensington. University College Hospital was to be his last
major commission. His son Paul, who had become a partner in
their architectural practice in 1891, saw the building to its
formal opening
in 1906, one year after his father's death. Waterhouse latterly
has had a reputation for unsympathetic but efficient architecture;
his great skill was in planning, particularly on constricted
urban sites.
Hospital planning of the late Victorian era on open sites generally
was in the form of separate ward pavilions linked by long corridors.
Space between the wards allowed for sunlight, fresh air and
ventilation, which were all thought to contribute as much to
patients' well-being as the medical treatments. The Cruciform's
bold diagonal plan with a single service core and radiating
wings maintained the virtues of light and ventilation but limited
horizontal circulation by stacking the wards in 4 storeys on
a podium containing the support facilities. This innovative
scheme was preferred by the hospital's benefactor, Sir
John Blundell Maple, to an optional quadrangular plan. Maple
offered the projected £100,000 cost. The final construction
cost was actually £200,000 but Maple generously paid.
The diagonal form allowed for wards of 20-25 beds with end pavilions
for lavatories that were separated from the rest of the wing
by an open arcade allowing cross flow ventilation. These towers
were expressed picturesquely by the turrets on each corner of
the block. The building is not symmetrical, as close study will
reveal. Each wing was built consecutively.
The Cruciform building uses an architectural vocabulary familiar
from Waterhouse's earlier work but interpreted in a free treatment
of the renaissance rather than gothic style. This is seen as
curved arches, classical mouldings to window surrounds and contrasting
string course banding. There is a heavy dentilled cornice below
the attic storey and a picturesque distribution of dormers,
chimneys, gables and turrets at roof level. Waterhouse selected
his materials for their proven durability, hard red brick and
terracotta dressings in red and earth tones, more economic and
less susceptible to erosion in polluted Victorian cities than
stone.
Internally practical, hardwearing and easily-cleaned materials
were used: terrazzo, mosaic and wood block for the floors and
glazed bricks for the walls, with marble for the
formal outpatients' entrance.
The hospital closed in 1995 and was purchased by University
College London. It has been subject to a complete refurbishment
to give the building a new lease of life as the Wolfson Institute
for Biomedical Research and the pre-clinical teaching facility
for the Royal Free and University College Medical School. As
the building is listed Grade II by English Heritage, the refurbishment
sought to remove some of the post- Waterhouse extensions to
reveal the heavy cornice from ground level. Other extensions
were re-clad with sympathetic materials. A new block was built
in the service yard for boiler and chiller plant and a new lecture
theatre was constructed between the North wings with its roof
hidden behind the parapet wall. A thorough clean and remedial
work were undertaken to all the brickwork and terracotta, although
this was in remarkably good condition for its age. The building
was re-roofed and external plumbing was removed.
Internally the layout proved adaptable to its new functions.
Over the years as a hospital the original arcades of the central
circulation area were infilled, the glazed brickwork was plastered
over and the floors covered in vinyl. As part of the refurbishment,
as many of these original features as are compatible with the
new usage have been uncovered and restored. This work, together
with sympathetic interventions, bring light into the core and
give an increased spatial awareness.
