History:
University College Hospital was rebuilt in 1897- 1906 using the principles of the pavilion plan but on a very restricted urban site. This enabled two variations: firstly a four storey building instead of the more common two storey development. Secondly, the surgeon, Prof John Marshall was interested in circular pavilion ward plan with smaller clusters of beds more easily observed from a central point.
The building is part of a major redevelopment programme for the hospital. It has been recently converted from health use into medical research laboratories.




Architecture:
The hospital was designed by Alfred Waterhouse as a phased construction programme. It involved the planning of four five storey cross plan blocks on the diagonals of a square with a separate circulation tower. This was originally to be linked by cast iron bridges and blow through spaces only but modified to make these links enclosed.
The building has a striking red exterior built from deep re coloured brick and dressings of pink terracotta supplied by Doulton. It is an imposing building with a striking skyline with details and decoration derived from renaissance sources.
The plan of the wards was in the form of a cross with beds along each side and with an extra large bay at each side. The wings were connected to the central tower at one end and terminated in sanitary towers at the other.
The building anticipated the tower on the podium idea by separating the patient and subsidiary accommodation and by developing a taller solution necessitated by the restricted site.