13447

 

II*  

Designated  

11/06/1990  

25/09/2002  

Sully Hospital  

 

Vale of Glamorgan  

Sully  

 

Sully  

314062  

167522  

S  

Reached along a byroad one-and-a-half kms SW from B4267 near W outskirts of Sully. The hospital is sited in extensive, wooded grounds at Hayes Point overlooking the Bristol Channel.  

Health and Welfare  

 

Constructed 1931-8; opened by the Duke of Kent on 6th November 1936, for the treatment of tuberculosis patients. Sully Hospital with 300 beds was the last institute established for the treatment and abolition of tuberculosis by the King Edward VII National Memorial Association whose president was Lord Davies of Llandinam. Taken over by the Welsh Hospital Board in 1948, Sully subsequently developed as a general hospital; the hospital had already played a significant part in treating wartime casualties including evacuees from Dunkirk. Designed by W A Pite, Son and Fairweather, an architectural practice of London which devised the S ward block with traps to provide shelter and 'sun heated air'. Modern Movement in style; design revised after competition to eliminate Neo-Georgianisms. The following description of the plan comes from the Vale of Glamorgan Buildings Preservation Trust report of 2002. 'A single building with internal corridors contains all the functions of the hospital. It is divided into four blocks. Facing the main entrance drive is the Nurses' and Maids' home on four floors containing 132 bedrooms. This block houses the main entrance that marks the beginning of a spinal corridor leading to the Administration Block with kitchens on the ground floor and medical staff quarters on the first floor. Next is the Special Block with social suites on the ground floor, the X-Ray department on the first floor and the operating theatre on the second. Finally the Ward Block stretches east and west on three floors so that every ward faces out to sea. It was planned for 300 beds in six 50-bed units - three for men and three for women. Each ward is divided into single rooms and rooms with 4 and 8 beds. The most interesting rooms are those with fully opening windows on two sides so that balconies are unnecessary. Other rooms were given outside balconies but these have since been enclosed. The ward block is not straight on plan. Instead it is cranked to give projection and recession to provide the shelter required by the brief. The Power Station, Boiler House, Incinerator and Garage lie to the east of the spine and the Medical Superintendent's House and Lodge are separate buildings in the landscaped grounds. The woodland belts that were already planted on the site shelter the whole hospital.....The staircases were (revised design of 1932) in circular towers and the principal stairs were in elegantly curved reinforced concrete with stained glass windows. The interiors of the hospital were easy to clean with coved skirtings and flush surfaces. Electrical and mechanical equipment - specified by Plevin and Jenkins of Cardiff - was comprehenisve with separate lifts for different types of traffic. Contemporary photos show that rooms and corridors were spacious and generously lit. The architects designed much of the furniture. Some was made by the Brynmawr furniture factory that was set up by the university settlement in the town..'  

Hospital complex in Modern Movement style. Plan of ward block to S with main frontage facing sea; nurses home block to N, spinal corridor with doctors' and administration block at centre and service court to rear. Constructed of brick rendered and reinforced concrete, painted, with metal- frame windows,balconies. Exceptionally wide 3 storey (plus basement to right wing) main front, terraced to S, with ward wings stepping forward and then from central entrance block. Pale colour-washed walls with flat roofs and distinctive projecting eaves (removed to centre). Set-back attic storey flanked by chimneys coming forward; tall service and entrance tower to rear, projecting eaves and clerestorey glazing. Long bands of glazing, linked by cornices and sills and interruption by internal dividing walls, to main block which splays forward to meet wings; original large-pane metal-frames to most of 1st floor and ground floor (casements and top pivot-frames.) Dropped sill to centre first-floor window leading on to splayed metalwork balcony over doorway with stepped orders and original fittings to glazed double doors. Stepped wings similarly treated, plus linked concrete balconies with metal handrails to longer inner bays, French windows to southern ends; original glazing to ground floor left and 1st floor right only. Outer wings step back as before to join long 9-window ranges with linked concrete balconies with French windows plus 1-window and pavilions with metal handrails to roof and terraces. Simpler rear elevations of wings have outer stair towers with diagonally rising glazing and curved angles to main ranges; inner angle to E wing with double doors under bowed balconies. Large double panelled doors to main (ambulance) entrance under canopy at base of main staircase tower with diagonally-rising glazing. One and 2 storey ranges in matching style along spinal corridor linking ward block through quadrangular service block to north entrance block. N entrance front of 4 storeys 9 windows with wings splayed forward. Plain projecting parapets, clourwashed walls, indivdual windows with hoods, sills and original metal casements; lower windows linked horizontally in brickwork bands. International-style, circular stair-towers with full-height facetted glazing at outer angles pilasters grouping windows and recessed central doorway; original panelled double doors, fanlight under bowed balcony with metal handrail. Distinctive E end to one-storey service block. International-style, overall concrete canopy with bowed angle and single metal column; below is bowed end to office, double wooden doors to right and in angle to left.  

Well-proportioned interior with careful detailing such as wardrobes, rubber edging to doors (mostly replaced), curved corners to eliminate dust traps, floors of terrace and rubberised composition. Fireplaces, oak skirtings and dado rails to some public rooms including library. Original metal handrails to stairs including the exceptional open-well; circular staircases in N block with cantilevered flights. Round columns in N entrance hall.  

Graded II* as one of the few exceptional inter-War public buildings in Wales and the finest designed in Modern Movement style with international influences (eg the public works of such Dutch architects as JJP Oud and Duiker and Bijoret's Zonnestraal Sanatorium of 1926-8). One of the few surviving products of the Welsh National Memorial Association, a precursor of the NHS, and in the vanguard of contemporary medical developments in the treatment of tuberculosis.