Evelina London Children's Hospital

Story

Evelina London Children's Hospital is a specialist NHS hospital in London. It is administratively a part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and provides teaching hospital facilities for London South Bank University and King's College London School of Medicine. Formerly housed at Guy's Hospital, it moved to a new building alongside St Thomas' Hospital, which opened on 31 October 2005.HistoryThe hospital was founded in 1869 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild, whose wife, Evelina, and their child had died in premature labour. It was established in a purpose-built hospital in Southwark Bridge Road, Southwark, opposite what was originally the headquarters of the London Fire Brigade at 94 Southwark Bridge Road. It was nationalised in 1948, becoming a branch of Guy's Hospital. In 1976 the original hospital building was closed, and the children's wards were moved to the newly built Guy's Tower.New hospitalIn 1999 a decision was made to re-establish Evelina Children's Hospital as a new specialist hospital for all children's services at Guy’s and St Thomas', on the site of a former nurses' home. An architectural design competition was managed by RIBA Competitions and won by Hopkins Architects and engineers Buro Happold. Davis Langdon provided quantity surveying and employer's agent services. Construction began in 2002, and the building was completed in 2004, ready for fitting out. This is one of the few hospitals in the world to be built not around the doctor's perspective, but around the patient's. The building won the IStructE Award for Education or Healthcare Structures in 2006.