Report of the building committee, presented to His Grace The Duke of Marlborough, President, on the opening of the south-wing, November 21, 1863.

Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the building committee, presented to His Grace The Duke of Marlborough, President, on the opening of the south-wing, November 21, 1863. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    matter. Had the site been an open question, they might have arranged the whole building on the North side of the Infirmary Grounds, then all future extension could have been carried out systematically to the Westward. The Garden can hereafter be used for this mode of ex- tension beyond the old Fever Ward. The Ward is 78 ft. in length, by 26 ft. 6 in. in width, and 18 ft. in height. Twenty bed- places are fitted up, giving to each bed 1,860 cubic feet of air. There are six Windows on the South, with a similar and opposite set on the North excepting only the second from the entrance, which is replaced by a fireplace. The sashes are of oak, with stout plate glass i in. thick; opening both at the top and bottom. To prevent draughts either through the window- frames or from the cold outer glass, glass frames have been provided resting on the window-sill, 2 ft. 4 in. in height, and of the same width as the window, which will in effect make the lower part of the windows double; and, if required, these frames can be raised to any height here- after. Ventilation does not wholly depend on the windows. In the ceiling, between each truss of the roof, is a hinged trap-door, readily opened and shut: all together affording 72 superficial square feet of air passage into the roof space. The roof is pierced North and South, and East and West, by eight opposed open Ventilators for the exit of foul and introduction of fresh air. Besides, in the centre of the floor, between the feet of the beds, are six apertures, which can be opened or closed, communicating with a chamber in a cellar east of the Ward. This chamber is supplied with fresh air by an aperture 3 ft. by 2, and may be heated by the furnace which heats the Out-Patients' Hall and the Shop Corridor. The air flue can be disconnected at will. In addition to these sources of Air and means for promoting its due circulation, there are in each pier, between the windows, air flues with regulating valves, which open through the wall into the outer air. There are two open Fireplaces, one on the north side replacing a North ^^'^indow, one at the West between the West Windows. In tlie mantelpiece there is an aperture leading to the ventilating shaft which surrounds the flue. This shaft is constructed of Jennings's patent flue-pipes. Tlie Ward is built over an excavated cellar 9 ft. deep. The joists are plastered on the under surface, with pugging between them. The flooring is of 1-in. deal, with f-in. wainscot- oak laid upon it; the latter dowelled and side-nailed. A slight current of air passes between the plastering and the pugging, and also between the pugging and the double floor. The spaces on the floor under each bed are covered with white glazed Minton's tiles, with a glazed red border. These tiles are bedded in Portland cement, which rests on a bed of concrete laid in between the joists. Any moisture therefore spilt under the bed will lie upon the tiles, and may easily be wiped off the polished surface. Between the bed-places the floor is, as elsewhere, of wainscot, the tiles not projecting beyond the edge of an ordinary bed, that they may not be stepped on by patients leaving their beds. Over every bed is a bed-pull. Curtains can be added, and fittings are prepared for curtain- rods ; but Miss Nightingale having been consulted as to the best kind of curtains, and she having declined to advise on tlie way of fitting what she considered should not be fitted at all, tlie Committee have not placed curtains. Two bed-spaces are placed between each Window; and every Patient is separated from