Domestic residence to multi-storey building. The lived experience of hospital grounds in Melbourne before World War II

Hospital grounds in Melbourne, Australia, before World War I resembled imposing residential sites with grand mansions surrounded by shrubberies, circular drives and tennis courts. By World War II hospitals had become multi-storey buildings surrounded by car parks and grass. Although there have been numerous studies that link the changing built environment of hospitals to social, medical and architectural narratives, there has been little emphasis on the impact of these changes on the experience of the hospital as a place, and its identity as an institution. The broader meanings for staff and patients are not explored. This paper then investigates the outdoor grounds of hospitals as places before World War II in Melbourne, Australia. This analysis illuminates a hitherto neglected aspect of hospital history that not only enriches an understanding of this period but provides insights into the role of outdoor grounds that has implications for twenty-first century hospitals. ► Focus on general hospitals of southern hemisphere. ► Extensive use of archival material, newspapers and personal accounts. ► Implications for present day hospitals. ► Inclusion of personal accounts. ► Link between connection to the site and human well-being explored.