Description

Sydney Mitchell and Wilson, 1890-2. Single storey and attic Queen Anne quadrangle with 2-storey pedimented central and mansard-roofed lucarned corner pavilions, built round a central court and linked to E by a single storey conservatory to the former George Watson's Hospital (separately listed). Red 'pressed' brick with yellow ashlar dressings and decorative banding. Swept bracketed eaves. Decorative lanterns/ventilators to all pavilions.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: advanced gabled 3-bay central block with scrolled, curvilinear pediment; entrance in single storey canted bay; modern 2-leaf door flanked by narrow windows, with 5 small windows over; narrow windows with circular blind openings over to outer bays and returns at ground floor; Serliana at 1st floor level, flanked by smaller windows; 2 small windows with panel above in gable. Recessed 4-bay linking ranges with decorative gabled dormers breaking eaves at attic level in 3 inner bays, slightly advanced flat-roofed outer bays with doors to ground and tripartite stone-mullioned and -transomed windows above. Square corner pavilions: 4 small windows to ground and 1st floors.

N, E AND S ELEVATIONS: as above, but with pedimented advanced centre block, stone-mullioned bipartite windows to ground and 1st floors, circular opening in gable and splayed corners; windows to ground floors of outer recessed bays; bipartite stone-mullioned windows to ground and 1st floors of corner pavilions. Foliate carved plaque above garden entrance to E dated 1891.

CENTRAL COURTYARD AND FOUNTAIN: plain brick with yellow ashlar lintels. 2-tier cast-iron fountain (dolphins etc) with composite stone basin to centre.

INTERIOR: compartmented ceiling to entrance foyer (now shop). Small leaded panes with stained glass to overdoors of several rooms.

CONSERVATORY: pitched-roofed L-shaped conservatory on red brick lower walls with french door to garden to S forms linking corridor to former George Watson's Hospital building to NE.

6-pane upper sashes, 2-pane lower in timber sash and case windows. Geenish slates with terracotta ridging tiles. Brick chimneys with ashlar mouldings and cornices, circular cans. Cast-iron downpipes with urn-shaped hoppers.

Statement of Interest

A group comprises Lodge (with boundary walls, railings, gates, gatepiers and lamp standards), main block (including linked ward pavilions) of Royal Infirmary, former Watson's Hospital, Medical Pavilions (including Jubilee Pavilion), former Nurses' Home, Simpson Memorial Maternity Pavilion, former Florence Nightingale Nurses' Home, Chalmers Hospital and 29-33 Chalmers Street (former Queen Mary Nursing Home). Opened 19th December 1892. Built as a new home for the nursing staff of Edinburgh Royal Infirmary; originally comprised 121 nurses' rooms, 6-bed sick room, 16 bathrooms and a large recreation room, with a garden in the centre of the quadrangle. Connected to dining and reading rooms by a conservatory.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17795929

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings