THE CRUCIFORM BUILDING

The Cruciform building was designed in 1896 by the English architect Alfred Waterhouse RA (1830-1905) as a replacement building for the earlier University College Hospital on the Gower Street site. Waterhouse, who was particularly associated with the Victorian gothic revival, designed and built over 30 buildings, including Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum. University College Hospital was his last major commission and it was formally opened in 1906, one year after his death.

Hospital planning of the late Victorian era generally took 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 to patients' well-being. 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 four storeys on a podium containing the support facilities. Each wing was built and opened separately, at a final construction cost of £200,000.

Waterhouse’s great skill was in planning, particularly on constricted urban sites. He selected his materials for their proven durability; hard red brick and terracotta dressings in red and earth tones were more economic and less susceptible to erosion in polluted Victorian cities than stone. Practical, hardwearing and easily-cleaned materials were used internally - 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 University College London 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 in the basement between two wings, with its roof hidden behind the parapet wall. Thorough cleaning 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 restoration work has brought light into the core area and given an increased spatial awareness.