This research is investigating the history of Scottish hospital architecture between 1948 (the year when the NHS was created) and the 1990s.

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The topic has received little attention, despite the fact that a major hospital-building programme was undertaken. Most studies of hospital architecture do not go beyond the 1970s, while the majority focus on the first half of the twentieth century. Broader studies of post-war architecture that include hospitals have focused on the work of major architectural firms and predominantly feature English examples. The first phase of work aims to identify the hospital buildings erected between 1948 and 1998. These will include entire new hospitals as well as additions to existing sites. Visits, map analysis and archival research will establish a chronology of hospital building in Scotland and identify which buildings are still standing. Some from the 1960s have been demolished in recent years, as the NHS has embarked on a further major programme of rebuilding under the Private Finance Initiative. Recurrent plan types will be categorised; architects, engineers, construction companies and building methods will be recorded. More in-depth research on a representative selection of sites will follow in the second phase of work. The research asks: how, and by whom, were new hospital buildings conceived designed, and built? From preliminary research at the National Records of Scotland in Edinburgh, it is clear that the relationships between the Department of Health, the regional and local boards of management, NHS architects and private firms, were complex, close, and not always amicable. These complexities are not evident from the articles on new hospitals that appeared in the architectural and medical press of the time. The convoluted bureaucracy, implications of adherence to government policy, and ultimate Treasury control over spending, combined to produce lengthy gestation periods for new hospitals. This can tell us much about how and why hospitals were built as they were, but also illuminate wider question of process and collaboration in the history of twentieth-century architecture and public-sector patronage. Other themes that are likely to emerge are: how and why Scotland differed from England in its implementation of the Hospital Plans of 1962 and 1966; the impacts of economic recession in the 1970s and the Public Finance Initiative of the early 1990s; and the extent to which hospital buildings adapted to the rapid pace of change in medical practice. My previous research on pre-war hospitals in Scotland and England will assist in considering continuities with earlier building projects, executed or postponed by the outbreak of war, the effects of the war-time emergency medical service, and immediate post-war plans.Apart from adding to our understanding of the development of hospital architecture in the second half of the twentieth century, I anticipate that the research will evoke a greater appreciation of these buildings and hopefully ensure the protection of the most important examples. It will also provide the NHS with a qualitative assessment of its building stock, enabling strategic plans for future redevelopment to avoid conflict with heritage bodies. The influence of the built environment on health and wellbeing is an area of active interest. Public engagement through social media, workshops and other events can be used to measure the impact of hospital design and planning on the user's experience. The positive effects of building excellence on patient recovery times and staff wellbeing is now a key consideration in commissioning new hospitals, recognising excellence in older buildings equally has potential benefits to staff and patients. Hospitals are an important part of people's lives, and the NHS is rightly cherished. But its extraordinary architectural legacy is in danger of vanishing before it has been properly evaluated and considered.