Hospital Architecture in Britain

Abstract

"The hospitals built now will represent our age to future generations. It is essential that they are not only functionally efficient but aesthetically desirable. The architecture about us affects our attitudes-both conscious and subconscious. Design is the concern of us all." These were the beliefs presented to us by Mr Bruce Ritson and the Museum Committee when they brought an exhibition on contemporary hospital architecture to the Royal Medical Society in February. The material for the display, which was accumulated with care and effort from several sources, bespoke the concern for, and interest in, hospital design of the organisers. By showing us the best of what is new in Britain they have equipped us to criticise and thus to play our part in the development of the hospital in this country.

The vitality of the doctor /architect liaison was well emphasised. As Geriatric and Casualty departments grow, tuberculosis sanatoria become redundant. The architect designing alone can hardly be expected to sympathise with such trends and the doctor designing alone cannot adequately cater for them. They must stand together, and, where luck runs low, fall together: by experiment and the pooling of experience. The best will be built into the hospitals of tomorrow, and they will appeal from both the functional and aesthetic points of view.