ABSTRACT
On Tuesday, November 4, 1894, The Times reported that the Duke of York, accompanied by the Duchess, would lay the foundation stone of a new building for the General Hospital in Birmingham. The Times article is remarkably detailed in its description of the new building, which leads one to believe that the reporter relied heavily on information provided by the architect, William Henman. Henman was the winner of the competition for the design of the new Birmingham General Hospital. A central but fairly open site was chosen for the new hospital in the heart of the gunmakers quarter, along Steelhouse Lane and in close proximity to the Law Courts and the County Court. The Nightingale Wards were, as the name indicates, attributed to Florence Nightingale, who wrote in great detail on the design of hospital wards. In his 1896 paper on hospital design, Henman discusses the pros and cons of “natural ventilation” vs “artificial” ventilation systems.
