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Hospital, the original Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, built in the 18th century and rebuilt in the mid 19th century with later additions and alterations. Construction of the original building started in 1740 to the design of William Christall, and it opened in 1742 with 20 beds including accommodation for 'lunatics'. It was demolished when the new hospital opened, built in 1833-40, designed by Archibald Simpson. Simpson's hospital is a neo-Classical granite ashlar building, designed as an impressive public building as well as a functional one. It is 3-storey, 13 bays by 9 bays on an H plan, with shallow advanced triangular pedimented centres to the principal and side elevations with giant order Doric pilasters. It has a channelled ground floor, string course between ground and first floor, and deep corniced eaves course with blocking course above. There are predominantly moulded architraved windows at first and second floor, and glazing is predominantly 12-pane in timber sash and case windows. In the centre of the building is a dome with glazing to the north side. A major extension and reconstruction scheme known as the Jubilee Extension Scheme was begun in 1887 with new blocks constructed to the rear of the Simpson pavilion. These, designed by W and J Smith and Kelly (Aberdeen architects) opened in 1897 and provided new surgical, medical, pathology and laundry blocks. The former laundry block (now archive block) is 5-stprey on an irregular plan, with continuous glazing in a distinctive timber-framing, built of coursed granite. The interior includes a stone cantilevered staircase with a single room to each floor supported on iron columns and beams. The former pathology and medical block (Mount Stephen), of coursed granite, has a 4-storey central block with pedimented gable ends, flanked by 3-storey recessed wings. The central block has an advanced pedimented single-bay centre and 2-bay ends linked by balconies. There is a date stone with hood moulding at the second floor to the centre of the street elevation. Internally it comprises wards and rooms accessed from a central corridor with a staircase at the centre of the building. The former surgical block (Victoria Pavilion) of coursed granite, is 3-storey and has single and 2-bay advanced gabled sections, some of those to the principal elevation linked by balconies at first and second floor level. Balconies to the courtyard elevation were originally open as shown on a 1910 photograph. Interior alterations were carried out in 1946. On the south side of the Victoria Pavilion is a tall single-storey boiler house and lower outbuilding. The former porters lodge, on the east side of the site, was also added in the 1887-97 scheme. It is a single-storey, square plan neo-Classical building of granite. As part of this new scheme the Simpson building was converted to an administrative and clinical area with accommodation for nurses, and the wards moved to the new pavilions to the rear known as the. Later additions included a operating theatre, and an out-patients department opened in 1912 to the east on the opposite side of Woolmanhill. The boundary walls of the main site are of roughly squared, coursed and coped granite, though the wall to the West on Spa Street is taller and may include early 18th Century fabric. The walls are topped with iron railings. Within the courtyard to the rear of the Simpson building is a decorative cast iron lamp standard. Hospital in use during First World War. It was replaced by a new Aberdeen Royal Infirmary at Foresterhill (NJ90NW1370) in the 1930s, but remained in use as a hospital until 2017.
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Historic Environment Records (HER) 
Aberdeen City
HER -
NJ90NW0565 - WOOLMANHILL HOSPITAL