Survey Data
Reg No
41303045
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social
Previous Name
Monaghan District Lunatic Asylum
Original Use
Hospital/infirmary
In Use As
Hospital/infirmary
Date
1935 - 1945
Coordinates
267549, 334132
Date Recorded
14/10/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Multiple-unit brick building of between one and three storeys with total of twenty-six bays across central south-west facing block, flanking eight-bay wings angled to north and south ends of central block and eleven-bay extension to north-east containing main entrance façade, built c.1937-1943, to designs by Belfast architect Cormac MacLynn. Central five-bay section has flanking two-bay blocks on either side which project from central section. Cast concrete canopies over terraces on front elevation of building create sheltered open recreation areas and bowed ends to wings provide scope for extensive windows to light indoor sun-rooms. Roofs are hipped with black clay ridge tiles and slate cladding with a small number of simple brick chimneystacks having upended brick decoration and over-sailing moulded concrete cappings. Most front elevations and many to rear have parapet gutters drained by cast-iron hopper heads and circular downpipes, with half-round, cast-iron rainwater goods everywhere else. Walls are of brick laid to English garden wall bond with some un-bonded stretcher brickwork to prominent parapets on breakfronts and projecting bays. Parapets have plain concrete coping slabs with some ashlar stone dressing, notably in moulded cornice which surmounts breakfront on main central block and on entrance façade. Square-headed window openings with moulded concrete sills and replacement uPVC frames throughout with round-headed exceptions on stairwells. Almost all window openings have moulded or simple Bath stone, concrete or brick surrounds depending on prominence of each elevation. On south-east façade of main entrance building is generously proportioned five-bay, two-storey composition with slightly projecting central pyramidal-roofed tower rising to three storeys over main entrance doorway. Rest of roof is hipped with un-bonded stretcher brick parapets and end bays extending beyond eaves to create flat-roofed square projections. Upper stage of central tower has four narrow windows beneath full moulded render entablature, with single large square-headed window to first stage having Bath stone pediment, cornice of which is supported by two scrolled consoles. Moulded cement sill course, supported by two moulded stone brackets on central window, and ashlar Bath stone platband beneath this demarcate ground floor of building. This is faced with ashlar Bath stone to central three bays with only brick used on canted ground floor bay parapets. These bay windows flank central square-headed main entrance doorway with cut limestone lugged architrave, overlight with metal fish-scale decorative grill over glass and double-leaf panelled timber doors in chamfered and carved timber frame. Windows to end bays have ornate carved Bath stone surrounds with concrete cornices and sills. Part of Saint Davnet's hospital complex, building stands in extensive grounds, fronting onto lawned area with mature trees sheltering main façade from Monaghan Town.
Appraisal
This sprawling building retains a coherent architectural character which is kept legible and relatively uncluttered by the broadly symmetrical arrangement of the main central block and its two flanking wings. The angled plan of the building is perfectly suited to maximise the passive solar lighting of patient rooms, facilitates bright, sheltered recreation areas on the covered terraces and enables multiple access doorways that are relatively sheltered instead of being exposed on a large monolithic elevation. The architectural expression focused on the main entrance building is most impressive and fuses traditional finely executed ashlar stone work with brick in a complex arrangement of projecting and recessed elements that gives the whole building in a strong identity.