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Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital

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1911–1913, Codman and Despradelle. 721 Huntington Ave.

The first teaching hospital built in the complex surrounding Harvard Medical School, Peter Bent Brigham's Doric-porticoed administration building aligns axially with the medical school behind. Codman and Despradelle won the competition with a scheme of isolated wards connected by a central circulation spine. Following the principles of hospital design developed at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Peter Bent Brigham had freestanding wards ending in octagonal pavilions, which have been demolished for more recent additions. Known as the Pike, the connecting corridor allowed doctors and staff to interact between visits to patients or laboratories. Later additions, notably the concrete patients tower at 75 Francis Street, have concealed the clarity of the original scheme. The friendlier Ambulatory Services Building (1989, Kaplan, McLaughlin and Diaz with Tsoi/Kobus, 45 Francis Street) looks more like a motel than a hospital.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Keith N. Morgan
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Citation

Keith N. Morgan, "Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital", [Boston, Massachusetts], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MA-01-FL26.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Massachusetts

Buildings of Massachusetts: Metropolitan Boston, Keith N. Morgan, with Richard M. Candee, Naomi Miller, Roger G. Reed, and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, 194-194.

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