Site Overview
site name:
Gloucester House, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
architects:
Arthur Stephenson (design architect) of Stephenson, Meldrum and Turner
date of commission:
1936
date of completion:
1941
address:
Gloucester House, Missendon Road, Camperdown, Sydney NSW
classification / typology:
Health (HLT)
editor Fiche:
Noni Boyd, 2014
Description
It is the garden front with its curved glazing to the southeast and the cantilevered balconies that are the distinctive features of Gloucester House. Although the building is discretely tucked away in the hospital grounds the curved glazing was much photographed and published in the international press. The ward block was to be modern in all respects, with internal steelwork and timberwork also influenced by contemporary European buildings visited by Arthur Stephenson. Associated with the new hospital were landscaped grounds and a circular entrance drive, with a central sculpture.
Designed as a private ward block, the L-shaped five-block opens onto a landscaped courtyard. It is set back from Missenden Road and is well below road level. Originally contained in private wards, it has now been converted into a series of outpatient clinics. Entrance at first-floor level, also separate ambulance entry (to lift tower). L-shaped with wide balconies overlooking the courtyard. Sun terrace on the roof, with views across the university to the city. Separate lift tower. Reinforced concrete frame, terracotta block floors, cream brick infill panels (to harmonise with the existing ward block to the north, now demolished). Curved glazing to sun traps (solariums) overlooking the garden courtyard. Concealed reticulated services, air conditioning to western-facing patient rooms.
Evaluation
Technical: When completed the building was one of the most up-to-date hospital blocks in the country, with reticulated services including air- conditioning, patient telephones and ‘radio pillows’ for patients, large modern elevators for moving patients and wide balconies, corner solariums and roof terraces so patients could convalesce in the sun.
Social: The first intermediate hospital to have been built in Australia (a stage between free hospital wards and private health care).
Cultural: Marking the start of the construction of a series of substantial new functionalist hospital wards and nursing homes at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
Significance
The architect Arthur Stephenson travelled widely in Europe visiting modern hospitals and sanitoria. He was responsible for the introduction and design of modern ward blocks at the major metropolitan hospitals across Australia.
This building is widely believed to mark the introduction of European-style modern functionalist hospital blocks to Australia, marking a corresponding move away from the Nightingale ward planning that had been in use throughout the country since the 1870s.
References
Shaw, John, Sir Arthur Stephenson, Australian Architect, Stephenson & Turner, Sydney 1987
Newest Notes in Hospital Furnishing Many Surprises in the Sydney Building, Sydney Morning Herald, August 11th, 1936
Gloucester House, The New Intermediate Wing at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney Stephenson, Meldum & Turner, Architects
Art in Australia, August 15th, 1936, Decoration and Glass, August 15, 1936.
