Overview

Edinburgh

The hospital

The Royal Infirmary is as historic as the Old Town of Edinburgh itself. Founded in 1726, it was first known as the Hospital for the Sick Poor, and was funded entirely by donations. It was also one of the world’s first infirmaries.

The Infirmary received a Royal Charter in 1736 and in 1741 moved to new premises in High School Yards designed by William Adam. It was extended with the building of the New Surgical Hospital, which was completed in 1852. Then in 1879, the Infirmary moved once more to what is now the site of Quartermile.

In the late, industrial 1800s, this was an ideal spot for a hospital, because it was in the fresher, cleaner air on the edge of the city. Architect David Bryce designed the new Infirmary with “fingers” spanning out of the main building, to allow fresh air into the wards and provide views of The Meadows for patients.

In the two decades from 1880, the new Royal Infirmary continued to expand westwards. Most of the buildings dating from this period were designed by the celebrated Edinburgh architects, Sidney Mitchell and Wilson.

In 1998, having outgrown the space on which Quartermile now stands, the Infirmary moved again to a £184m purpose-built facility in Little France, to the south east of Edinburgh.