I had completely forgotten about Woolmanhill closing, @jsp77 and prettyvacant71 were up in April and they went past it and gave me the heads up when I met up with them. So thanks to them for the reminder!
Visited three times in total, twice with @Pammyj, we had two very nice chilled out days to ourselves and got round the whole place. For the third and final visit I met with Cuban B, Scattergun and Hmltnangel. Amazing how the rules of play can change somewhere in the space of 7 days. The buildings were in the process of being very thoroughly sealed and security had decided to take an interest in the place again. None the less, it made for a comical morning and a great laugh!
Woolmanhill was a mixture of everything I both love and hate about the UK's ageing hospitals. Beautiful old sections untouched for god knows how long, and painfully modernised refurbished sections that are token of the NHS bland style. Despite being largely stripped and my interior design grievances, I loved this place to bits. Stunning architecture, history, stair porn, nice signs, just enough hospital bits left behind to remind you of the building's former life, underground sections, 16 working cctv cameras and bollocks to counting the number of PIRs we had to fuck about getting past.
History:
Woolmanhill Hospital was a health facility in the city centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was the original Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, a complex which opened in 1749 and was replaced by new facility at Foresterhill in 1936. After services transferred to Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village, the Foresterhill site and Woodend Hospital, the Woolmanhill Hospital closed in April 2017. The complex is centred on a neo-classical main block with later nineteenth century buildings to the rear. Unusually, it has remained largely complete, with later building having taken place at Foresterhill
The facility was conceived as the original Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, before it moved to the Foresterhill site. Work began on the original building on the site, designed by William Christall, in 1740 and it opened in 1742.
The facility, was rebuilt to a design by Aberdeen architect, Archibald Simpson, in the neo-classical style, between 1833 and 1840 at the cost of £17,000. The main building, known as the Simpson Pavilion, is one of the last surviving examples of a pre-Nightingale style of hospital design. Additions were made to the building in 1844 and following a fire in 1849 it was repaired and subsequently extended.
In 1887, new buildings, designed by W. & J. Smith & Kelly were constructed to the north of the site. This Jubilee Extension provided a new surgical block, medical and pathology block and laundry blocks. The 1840 building was converted into an administrative and clinical area and also provided accommodation for nurses. The mid nineteenth century additions to the Simpson Pavilion were removed as part of this extension work.
After the First World War, further expansion was required but the confined nature of the site made this impractical and in 1923 the site at Foresterhill was acquired. Most services transferred to the Foresterhill site in 1936. Nevertheless some departments continued to operate from the facility which was renamed the "Woolmanhill Hospital". The building was designated a Category A listed building on 25 May 1977.
In 1999, NHS Grampian was granted permission to close the hospital and, by 2000, there were no in-patient beds remaining at the hospital.
A phased closure began as departments moved to various locations in Aberdeen, including the new Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village, the Foresterhill site and Woodend Hospital. Departments such as physiotherapy, genito-urinary medicine and osteoporosis moved out in 2012. Adult diabetic services moved to the David Anderson Building on Foresterhill site in May 2013.
After the ear, nose and throat (ENT) and audiology departments, which were the last services operating there and subsequently moved to Woodend Hospital, the hospital finally closed in April 2017.
Victoria Pavilion:
This was the first part @Pammyj and I got in to. We had tried somewhere else and failed and decided to swing by for a look and got lucky!
Archive Block:
Continued...
Visited three times in total, twice with @Pammyj, we had two very nice chilled out days to ourselves and got round the whole place. For the third and final visit I met with Cuban B, Scattergun and Hmltnangel. Amazing how the rules of play can change somewhere in the space of 7 days. The buildings were in the process of being very thoroughly sealed and security had decided to take an interest in the place again. None the less, it made for a comical morning and a great laugh!
Woolmanhill was a mixture of everything I both love and hate about the UK's ageing hospitals. Beautiful old sections untouched for god knows how long, and painfully modernised refurbished sections that are token of the NHS bland style. Despite being largely stripped and my interior design grievances, I loved this place to bits. Stunning architecture, history, stair porn, nice signs, just enough hospital bits left behind to remind you of the building's former life, underground sections, 16 working cctv cameras and bollocks to counting the number of PIRs we had to fuck about getting past.
History:
Woolmanhill Hospital was a health facility in the city centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It was the original Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, a complex which opened in 1749 and was replaced by new facility at Foresterhill in 1936. After services transferred to Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village, the Foresterhill site and Woodend Hospital, the Woolmanhill Hospital closed in April 2017. The complex is centred on a neo-classical main block with later nineteenth century buildings to the rear. Unusually, it has remained largely complete, with later building having taken place at Foresterhill
The facility was conceived as the original Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, before it moved to the Foresterhill site. Work began on the original building on the site, designed by William Christall, in 1740 and it opened in 1742.
The facility, was rebuilt to a design by Aberdeen architect, Archibald Simpson, in the neo-classical style, between 1833 and 1840 at the cost of £17,000. The main building, known as the Simpson Pavilion, is one of the last surviving examples of a pre-Nightingale style of hospital design. Additions were made to the building in 1844 and following a fire in 1849 it was repaired and subsequently extended.
In 1887, new buildings, designed by W. & J. Smith & Kelly were constructed to the north of the site. This Jubilee Extension provided a new surgical block, medical and pathology block and laundry blocks. The 1840 building was converted into an administrative and clinical area and also provided accommodation for nurses. The mid nineteenth century additions to the Simpson Pavilion were removed as part of this extension work.
After the First World War, further expansion was required but the confined nature of the site made this impractical and in 1923 the site at Foresterhill was acquired. Most services transferred to the Foresterhill site in 1936. Nevertheless some departments continued to operate from the facility which was renamed the "Woolmanhill Hospital". The building was designated a Category A listed building on 25 May 1977.
In 1999, NHS Grampian was granted permission to close the hospital and, by 2000, there were no in-patient beds remaining at the hospital.
A phased closure began as departments moved to various locations in Aberdeen, including the new Aberdeen Community Health and Care Village, the Foresterhill site and Woodend Hospital. Departments such as physiotherapy, genito-urinary medicine and osteoporosis moved out in 2012. Adult diabetic services moved to the David Anderson Building on Foresterhill site in May 2013.
After the ear, nose and throat (ENT) and audiology departments, which were the last services operating there and subsequently moved to Woodend Hospital, the hospital finally closed in April 2017.
Victoria Pavilion:
This was the first part @Pammyj and I got in to. We had tried somewhere else and failed and decided to swing by for a look and got lucky!
Archive Block:
Continued...
