Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB25/15/009 A

Address :
Knockbracken Clinic Knockbracken Healthcare Park Saintfield Road Belfast County Down BT8 8BH

Townland:
Ballydollaghan

---

Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
27/02/2013 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Hospital Building

Former Use
Hospital Building

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

---

OS Map No:
147/14SE

IG Ref:
J3573 6756

---

Owner Category

Health Board

Exterior Description And Setting

A three- and single-storey hospital building built c.1910 to designs by Tulloch & Watt, assisted by George Hine, as part of the Purdysburn Villa Colony hospital complex, occupying an extensive site south of Belfast in the Borough of Castlereagh. The building has a highly complex symmetrical plan form resembling a broad truncated arrow, all framing two courtyards bisected by a central link section on an irregular U-plan. The building consists of two parallel blocks - the original south front block and later north block (added c.1915); the south front block comprises a three-storey main central section flanked by single storey wings; these wings each terminate with four panopticon-style radial arms; main arms extend from a flat-roofed hexagonal lantern; the innermost arm links to the north extension at an angle of approximately 60°. Central block: Three-storey rectangular on plan with projecting gabled end bays and full height return to rear, abutted by a single- and two-storey service block, and by identical east and west dormitory wings. Hipped natural slate roof with angled ridge tiles and red brick chimneystacks with stone caps; sheeted overhanging eaves supporting ogee cast iron rainwater goods. Stretcher bonded brick walling over chamfered plinth; moulded stone string courses at cill level and above window head level at each floor. Windows are uPVC replacement; plain reveals with ashlar sandstone voussoirs and keyblock over; Serliana type window dressing to tri-partite second floor windows to outer bays. Principal elevation faces south and is symmetrically arranged about a central ashlar sandstone doorcase containing round-headed door opening within a simple broken-bed pediment; door flanked by sidelights with simple transom. Double leaf timber multi-panelled door, accessed by four diminishing platform steps. Central section is four windows wide to upper floors, second floor windows set back within a gallery, formerly open and supported by stone columns, which have now been incorporated into the glazed timber screen enclosure. Projecting bays at either side have two storey canted bays topped by a parapet, and surmounted by Serliana style window. Side elevations are blank. Rear elevation is abutted by a pair of full-height returns, flanking a two-storey stairwell outshot. Plainly detailed with irregular fenestration. The service block abuts at ground floor (see later). Dormitory wings: East and west dormitory wings are identical; each is arranged on a panopticon plan form consisting of three wards radiating from a central polygonal hub, lit from above with replacement lantern; connected to the central block by a link block and to the north block by an extended north arm. East wing is described for the purposes of the description; the west block is identically detailed. Pitched natural slate roofs all as central block. Walling and windows as central block with plain reveals and projecting sandstone sills; no string courses. South elevation has a full-height gabled projecting bay to inner portion, essentially flanking the central block. It is fronted by a single storey canted bay with multi-paned roundel over; lit by closely spaced windows. Link block is flat roofed with parapet, and has a door accessed by four stone steps flanked by a window. The ward ranges present a canted frontage at south, angled from a replacement lantern (c.1980) set on a plinth of green tiles, otherwise fully glazed and having flat roof pierced with circular lights. The entire south front was formerly fronted by an open verandah supported on cast iron columns, infilled c.1980 with concrete brick and curtain glazing. The south east ward terminates with a pair of octagonal pavilions with glazed conical lanterns with decorative finials, partially concealed by a parapet with stone string and coping. Each pavilion tower is lit by two windows; each has a small box-like brick extension (c.1980), of no interest; exposed gable apex has a roundel. Remaining radial elevations are all plainly detailed and lit by a series of equally spaced windows. North Block: The north block also comprises three sections, having three-storey central block (+attic) symmetrically arranged about a segmental-headed carriage arch leading through to the central courtyard, flanked by long two storey wings to east and west. The central section has a hipped natural slate roof with small three-light dormer to centre of main pitch. Walling is red brick stretcher bonded. Windows are plainly detailed as before (6/6 configuration), with cambered heads. The north facade is essentially divided into five sections – the central section being two windows wide over the carriage arch. It is flanked by gabled sections of equal width, each embellished with Dutch style gables and having paired upper floor windows contained within full-height recesses of brown brick over ground floor canted bays; the head of each recess has herringbone brick. Outer bays are each one window wide to each floor. Side elevations are identical; each is abutted by its respective wing, set back at extreme south end. A flat-roofed porch contains a door set in round-headed recess, detailed with brown brick as those to main facade, surmounted by a replacement uPVC conservatory accessed from the first floor. Porches are lit by a window to each cheek; otherwise there is a single window to ground floor and a diminutive window to second floor. Each side wing is identical, plainly detailed throughout enlivened only by a central full-height canted bay with large windows placed at mid-level. Rear elevations are plainly detailed, accessed by twin timber doors to central block set in recessed porches with terrazzo flooring. Service Block: The service block comprises a double-height L-shaped kitchen abutted by a two-storey ancillary block and boiler house. All plainly detailed with roundel windows to kitchen gables. Setting: The courtyard is divided into two sections (reflecting the gender segregation between wings), separated by the service block. Each courtyard is grassed, and bisected by a cross-shaped covered walkway comprising raised and railed concrete path and pitched slated canopy supported on cast iron columns. Knockbracken Clinic is the main building within the 275 acre Knockbracken Healthcare complex (see also HB25/15/009B-J); it occupies an elevated site surrounded by grassed banks. Roof: Hipped natural slate Walling: Red brick Windows: uPVC RWG: Cast iron

Architects

Watt and Tulloch

Historical Information

The former infirmary to the Purdysburn Villa Colony was added to the site in 1909 and is first shown on the fourth edition OS map of 1920-1. The infirmary was built as part of a phase of expansion that took place between 1907 and 1912 when further villas, administration buildings, a recreation hall and churches were added to the site. The architects were Graeme Watt and Tulloch, architects to the villa colony since its inception in 1902, under the guidance of noted asylum architect GT Hine. (Irish Builder; www.dia.ie) The hospital block was originally intended for ‘sick and infirm’ cases and contained 100 beds (50 males and 50 females) together with Medical Officers’, Matron’s and Nurse’s apartments, a laboratory and dental rooms. It was described in 1929 as a ‘very beautiful one-storey pavilion…placed on an elevation which affords a commanding view of the Lagan Valley and the Antrim Hills. The Dayrooms and Dormitories are very commodious with high-domed ceilings. Open-air verandahs communicate with the dormitories to which the patients in bed can be removed when weather conditions are favourable. The Building is cross-lighted and centrally-heated [and] is considered one of the finest yet erected anywhere for the clinical treatment of the mentally ill”. (Belfast Book 1929) Architecturally, the hospital block harks back to the Benthamite panopticon of the late 18th century, with radial wards that could be viewed from a single central point. (Reuber) The panoptic centres in each wing of the hospital block were originally laid out as winter gardens. An extension was made to the rear of the block in 1917 to designs by Nicholas Fitzsimons, providing accommodation for a further 50 patients. (www.dia.ie) Following the deaths of Narcissus and Emily Batt, former owners of the Purdysburn estate, the house and demesne of 295 acres were sold in 1894 to Belfast Corporation for the sum of £29,500 for use as a lunatic asylum and the house was adapted for this use by architects Jackson and Tilley following a competition won by them in 1897. (Craig; www.dia.ie) The initial purchase at Purdysburn was 295 acres from the representatives of Robert Narcissus. In 1902 a further 88 acres, the site of the present buildings, was acquired from Mr John Morrow. Further purchases of adjoining land were made in 1904, 1911, 1917 and 1919 bringing the total owned by the Corporation to 554 acres. Sixty five acres were allocated by the City Council for the Infectious Diseases Hospital leaving the remainder as asylum property. (Owen, History of Belfast, 1921) In 1900 the Management Committee of the Lunatic Asylum decided, on the advice of their Medical Superintendent, William Graham MD to build a new Asylum on the site on the Villa Colony principle which would allow the patients to be accommodated in ‘homely villas’ and would also permit ‘classification according to mental and physical condition’. Messrs Graeme Watt & Tulloch of Belfast were the architects, but as work on the villa colony progressed the committee decided to draw on the expertise of G T Hine, architect to the English Lunacy Commissioners. (Belfast Book 1929) George Thomas Hine was a specialist in asylum architecture which he considered to be ‘almost a distinct profession in itself’. In 1887 he won the competition for an enormous London County Council asylum in Essex (Claybury) which was greatly praised in its time, its ‘compact arrow’ plan becoming the model for asylum design and launching Hine on a career as one of the most successful asylum architects. He held a post of Consulting Architect to the Commissioners in Lunacy from 1897 and designed four major LCC asylums housing over 200 patients each as well as several new county asylums and additions to many others. Most of his early asylums are based on the design for Claybury. Hine’s designs after 1902, in particular, Long Grove in Epsom (1903-7) and Purdysburn (1907-13) often feature dispersed units, although Purdysburn is one of the only mental illness facilities to make use of the colony design. The First World War marked the beginning of a decline in large asylum building programmes in the UK. (www.simoncornwell.com; Roberts) A dwelling already in existence on the site, ‘Glenavon’ was adapted for the use of 30 patients and two further villas were built in 1902-3, for the accommodation of chronic cases. Two more villas were completed in 1906. In 1907 the Asylum committee authorised the architects to draw up plans for the new Villa Colony Asylum, including four more villas, two churches, a recreation hall and the present hospital block. Work commenced in 1908, using ‘lunatic labour’ to carry out considerable alterations of contour on the site. (Irish Builder) The cost of the work was estimated at £81,000 and the contractors were H & J Martin and Messrs Robert Corry Ltd. The 1911 census shows that by this stage five villas were occupied by patients, four newly built, housing around 55 patients each and one adapted from a former house on the site which was occupied by 33 patients. A hundred and seventy one patients were accommodated in the former ‘Purdysburn House’, indicating that, in total, the numbers of patients cared for on the site had almost tripled since the previous census of 1901. However, this rise was caused by a disproportionate, more than fourfold, increase in the numbers of female patients. Only male patients were accommodated in the villas while ‘Purdysburn House’ became reserved for female patients. (1911 census) In 1911 the tender of Messrs Robert Corry Ltd was accepted for the building of two further villas, at a cost of £9,790 and by 1913 these villas had been occupied by ‘working patients’ transferred from Grosvenor Road Asylum. Additions continued to be made to the asylum site over the ensuing years with ‘additional buildings’ planned in 1924-5, 1933-6 and 1938-9, all designed by Messrs Tulloch and Fitzsimons. By 1937 there were 17 villas accommodating 1,320 patients together with the hospital for 146 and a sanatorium for 22 patients. Belfast’s earlier asylum, built on the site now occupied by the Royal Victoria Hospital, had been constructed in 1829 and was demolished in the 1920s having closed in 1917. This building reflected prevailing attitudes about mental health at the time and was of a prison-like design, comprising numerous single cells with small, heavily barred windows. High walls surrounded the building, the purpose of which was to protect the public from the inmates. (Belfast Book 1929) The asylum was enlarged in 1860 but only had accommodation for 346 patients. Those who could not be accommodated in the asylum were sent to workhouses, or if dangerous, to gaol. Classification of mental disorders was simplistic and included those who would not nowadays be categorised as insane. The four categories were lunatics, curable and incurable, epileptics and idiots. It was not until 1895 that epileptics began to be treated in infirmaries rather than in asylums. (Reuber) Management and clinicians decided to rename Purdysburn in the 1990s in order to attempt to dispel some of the negative associations attached to the name. Today the site is known as Knockbracken Healthcare Park and the site is now shared with around thirty voluntary organisations who work in the healthcare field. The numbers of patients peaked at over 1800 in the mid-1950s but now lies at around 300, largely due to changes in mental health provision and an increased emphasis on treating people within the community. The headquarters of the Belfast Trust is also located on the site. (Mills) References: Primary Sources 1.PRONI OS/6/3/9/3 Third Edition OS Map 1901-2 2.PRONI OS/6/3/9/4 Fourth Edition OS Map 1920-21 3.PRONI OS/6/3/9/5 Fifth Edition OS Map 1920-31 4.PRONI OS/6/3/9/7 Seventh Edition OS Map 1938 5.PRONI VAL/1/B/321 Townland Valuation (1828-40) 6.PRONI VAL/2/B/3/29 Griffiths Valuation (1861) 7.PRONI VAL/12/B/20/7A-F Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 8.PRONI VAL/12/F/4/9/3 – Annual Revisions (1930-35) 9.1901 census online 10.1911 census online 11.Irish Times, 23rd September 1903 12.Irish Times, 12th January 1905 13.Irish Times, 10th April 1906 14.Irish Times, 7th May 1906 15.Irish Times, 28th May 1907 16.Irish Times, 4th March, 1910 17.Irish Times, 19th May 1910 18.Irish Times, 6th August, 1910 19.Irish Times, 8th August 1912 20.Irish Times, 17th August, 1912 21.Irish Times, 14th December 1912 22.Irish Times, 18th October, 1913 23.Irish Times, 13th January 1914 24.Irish Times, 16th May 1914 25.Irish Times, 27th June 1914 26.Irish Times, 7th November 1917 27.British Medical Journal 17th November 1917 28.Irish Builder 10th April 1902 29.Irish Builder 20th April 1907 30.Irish Builder 18th April 1908 31.Irish Builder 27th June 1908 32.Irish Builder 31st October 1908 33.Irish Builder 28th November 1908 34.Irish Builder 12th December 1908 35.Irish Builder 28th January 1909 36.Irish Builder 1 May 1909 37.Irish Builder 29th May 1909 38.Irish Builder 26th June 1909 39.Irish Builder 10th July 1909 40.Irish Builder 19th February 1910 41.Irish Builder 18thFebruary 1911 42.Irish Builder 23rd August 1924 43.Belfast Book, 1929 Secondary Sources 1.Craig, D H “Belfast and Its Infirmary – The Growth of a Hospital 1838 to 1948” 2.Mills, Jason “What’s He Building in There?” The Vacuum, Issue 15 3.Owen, D J “History of Belfast” Belfast: W & G Baird, 1921 4.Reuber, M “The architecture of psychological management: the Irish asylums (1801-1922)” Psychological Medicine, 1996, Vol 26, p.1179-1189 5.Roberts, Andrew ‘Notes on Asylum Architecture’ (available at http://studymore.org.uk/4_13_ta.htm) 6.Thomson, M “The Problem of Mental Deficiency, Eugenics, Democracy and Social Policy in Britain c1870-1959) Oxford Historical Monographs, 1996 7.www.simoncornwell.com

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

Z. Rarity V. Authorship X. Local Interest Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance R. Age S. Authenticity

Evaluation

A complex former infirmary block located on the extensive Knockbracken Healthcare Park (HB25/15/009A-I), formerly Purdysburn Villa Colony. The original part (built c.1910) comprises the main three-storey central block flanked by dormitory wings which were designed on a panopticon plan and provided segregated accommodation to patients of each gender. The north block (built c.1915) also comprises a central three-storey section, flanked by long wings. The entire structure is arranged around a courtyard, divided into two sections reflecting the segregation of the genders, and providing covered walkways for convalescence. Although, functionally the building is now divided into self-contained units which no longer reflect original functions, one panopticon wing remains in use to accommodate patients, and the floor plans generally remain intact, with ample evidence of former use in places. Of primary interest is the plan form of the building, reflecting the leading edge in a specialist form of design which facilitated the humane treatment and care of the mentally ill in surroundings particularly designed for that purpose; the consultant architect, George Thomas Hine, was considered a leading asylum architect of the period. Although large in scale, the building avoids institutional character, and much original fabric remains intact; the panoptic centres of the dormitory wings are of special interest, retaining original tiling, marble sills and curved doors; unfortunately original lanterns have been replaced. Although now enclosed, the vernadahs remain intact beneath later alterations. The Knockbracken Clinic is a key part of the wider complex (approximately 275 acres) which has many elements of historic and architectural significance. Together, it is an architectural group of great merit (see HB25/15/009A-J), of international significance within the context of mental health, representing a late nineteenth century emphasis of treatment assisted through positive environmental conditions and appropriate design. Having employed many people throughout the district for over a century, and given its history of unbroken use, the building is of social interest. The Knockbracken Healthcare Park is one of 5 large hospital complexes which are listed in Northern Ireland; it is one of two listed twentieth century hospitals - the second is Belvoir Park Hospital (HB25/17/007), located within Castlereagh only a short distance to the north of the Knockbracken Healthcare Park.

General Comments

Date of Survey

20 July 2011