Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

  East Wing - Buffalo General Hospital
100 High Street, Buffalo, New York

On this page, below:

Buffalo General Hospital Certificate of Incorporation date:
Nov. 21, 1855
First Building Dedication:
June 24, 1858 by Millard Fillmore  (Fillmore served as US President 1850-1853)
East Wing construction:
1895-1901
East Wing architect:
F. J. and W. A. Kidd
Style: Neoclassical


Timeline
Culled primarily from Hospital Scrapbooks in the Central Library.

1858 - First Building dedicated by former president Millard Fillmore on June 24, 1858
1880 - Expansion
1880 - Expansion
1901 - East Wing constructed 1895-1901
1909 - Harrington Building
1919 - Clifton Building
1932 - South Building
1938 - Clifton Corridor
1952 - West Building, attached to East Wing
2018 - West Building painted blue and white  2017-1018
Historic Photos


First Building   ...   Dedicated 1858

Source:  Evelyn Hawes, Proud Vision: The History of the Buffalo General Hospital The First Hundred Years.  Thomas Y. Cromwell Co, 1964



Source:  Evelyn Hawes, Proud Vision: The History of the Buffalo General Hospital The First Hundred Years.  Thomas Y. Cromwell Co, 1964




East Wing (light colored brick) on the right hand side of the photo 
Source:  Evelyn Hawes, Proud Vision: The History of the Buffalo General Hospital The First Hundred Years.  Thomas Y. Cromwell Co, 1964



East Wing at right
Source:  Evelyn Hawes, Proud Vision: The History of the Buffalo General Hospital The First Hundred Years.  Thomas Y. Cromwell Co, 1964



West Building   ...   Opened January 11, 1952   ...   Ten stories   ...   East Wing at right
Source:  Hospital Scrapbook in the Central Library  



  West Building   ...   Opened 1952   ...   
  The attached East Wing is above (east) the West Building in this photo
The Buffalo Evening News, July 19, 1950    ... Source:  Hospital Scrapbook in the Central Library

 

East Wing - Third Pavilion entrance   ...   The Buffalo Evening News, November 23, 1952
Source:  Hospital Scrapbook in the Central Library  



East Wing located to the immediate right of the taller West Building
Source:  Evelyn Hawes, Proud Vision: The History of the Buffalo General Hospital The First Hundred Years.  Thomas Y. Cromwell Co, 1964






Reprint

Buffalo General Hospital is Looking Shipshape
By Queenseyes
Buffalo Rising, July 27, 2018  (online April 2019)


Remnants of the original (West Building) facade can be seen to the left. Much of the original facade had discolored ugly streaking due to rainfall over the years

Last October, we posted that Buffalo General Hospital was getting a new paint job. Today that paint job is just about finished. The result? Truth be told, the aesthetic upgrade has done wonders for the hospital – it looks almost brand new.

In fact, it looks better than brand new because the brilliant white plays off the rest of the modern Medical Campus. Buffalo General Hospital no longer looks dated. It’s got relatively new LED signage up top, that changes colors and looks pretty spiffy.

Workers are in the final phase of painting the building, which is helping to shed the brutalist aspect of the structure. It’s amazing what a paint job can do to enhance an edifice that most presumed would always look like a concrete bunker. The hospital actually fits in with the rest of the Medical Campus, and doesn't look shabbily out of place.




Photos taken May 2019

East Wing - First Pavilion


Pavilion:  A projecting element of a façade, used especially at the center or at each end and usually treated so as to suggest a tower   ...    May also describe a projecting subdivision of a monumental building, notably the central or end bays of a Classical facade.

Total of five pavilions in the East Wing - Completed 1901



East Wing, 1895-1901   ...  First, Third and Fourth (recessed)  Pavilions    ...   Not shown:  Second and Fifth Pavilions
Source: 1901 Buffalo Directory, as found on Buffalo Stories (online May 2019)



The 1952 West Building at left was painted blue and white in 2017-2018 to coordinate with neighboring Children's Hospital  ...    The West Building was attached to the earlier East Wing  which was completed in 1901  ...   The East Wing has five pavilions   ...  The First and Second Pavilions (recessed) are shown in this photo






First Pavilion - facade
Tuscan pilasters   ...   Voussoirs above  windows   ...   Running bond brick pattern



First Pavilion - facade
Voussoirs above  window   ...   Diamond pattern functions as a spandrel panel



First Pavilion - facade
String courses   ...   S scroll   ...   Unusual voussoir pattern



First Pavilion - facade
Dual corbels    ...   Voussoirs





Photos taken May 2019

East Wing - Recessed Second Pavilion

Pavilion:  A projecting element of a façade, used especially at the center or at each end and usually treated so as to suggest a tower   ...    May also describe a projecting subdivision of a monumental building, notably the central or end bays of a Classical facade.

Total of five pavilions in the East Wing - Completed 1901



Recessed Second Pavilion
The front white entrance obviously is not original



Recessed Second Pavilion
Diamond pattern function as spandrel panels


Recessed Second Pavilion
Rounded center section:  Originally the children's section



Recessed Second Pavilion
Gibbs surrounds using bricks instead of the traditional stone pieces




Photos taken May 2019

East Wing - Third Pavilion

Pavilion:  A projecting element of a façade, used especially at the center or at each end and usually treated so as to suggest a tower   ...    May also describe a projecting subdivision of a monumental building, notably the central or end bays of a Classical facade.

Total of five pavilions in the East Wing - Completed 1901



Third Pavilion
Blue and white painted building at left is the West Building   ...   Bridge is to the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Gratwick Basic Science building across the street on High Street  ...   Two entrances on the Third Pavilion of the East Wing


Third Pavilion
Source: 1901 Buffalo Directory, as found on Buffalo Stories (online May 2019)
Note the four stories - different from the photo below:


Third Pavilion - facade
Except for the first story entrance, the rest of the facade is different from the original:  The style is Art Deco style  that features geometric brick ornamentation, stepped setbacks with additional floors    ...  Two Art Deco brick details below:


Third Pavilion - facade
Art Deco style geometric brickwork in spandrel panels between rows of windows



Third Pavilion - facade
Art Deco style geometric brickwork in spandrel panels between rows of windows



Third Pavilion - Front entrance
Original entrance    ...   Indiana limestone(?)  entrance surround     ...   Details below:


Third Pavilion - Front entrance
Rosettes flanked by sawtooths   ...   Dentil molding   ...   Tuscan pilasters



Third Pavilion - Front entrance
 Indiana limestone(?)   ...   Partially reeded pilasters   ...   Modillions with varying acanthus leaf designs, detailed below:


Third Pavilion - Front entrance
 Fanciful  acanthus leaf designs



Third Pavilion - Front entrance



Third Pavilion - Front entrance




Photos taken May 2019

East Wing - Fifth Pavilion

Pavilion:  A projecting element of a façade, used especially at the center or at each end and usually treated so as to suggest a tower   ...    May also describe a projecting subdivision of a monumental building, notably the central or end bays of a Classical facade.

Total of five pavilions in the East Wing - Completed 1901



 
Recessed Fourth Pavilion  in center   ...   Fifth Pavilion at right



Fifth Pavilion at left   ...   Michigan Goodrich Garage at right features two large murals



Fifth Pavilion      ...   The parking garage at right   ...   Entrance to the Fifth pavilion is on the east (right) side of the pavilion



Fifth Pavilion
Founded MDCCCLV = 1855   ...   MDCCCXCV = 1895, the year the East Wing  construction began



Fifth Pavilion
Founded MDCCCXCV = 1895 



Fifth Pavilion
Frieze: Acanthus leaf in upper left corner   ...   Egg-and-dart molding   ...   Dentil molding   ...   Acanthus leaf molding   ...   On frieze, a terra cotta hospital symbol medallion originally created  by Andrea della Robbia   ...   Leaf-and-dart molding  

Pilaster:    Leaf-and-dart    ...   Acanthus leaf   ...   Bead-and-reel molding   ...   Fluting with acanthus leaves



Fifth Pavilion



Fifth Pavilion
Window surround   ...   Rosettes at frieze corners   ...      Two leaf-and-dart moldings


Fifth Pavilion
String course features Vitruvian wave



Fifth Pavilion   ...   Michigan Goodrich Garage at right features two large murals



Fifth Pavilion at left is connected to the parking garage at right by a covered walkway   ...   The entrance to the Fifth Pavilion is at the left of the covered walkway



Fifth Pavilion  - Entrance
White covered walkway leads to the adjoining parking garage   ...   Rusticated story has large blocks separated by deep joints, but not a roughened surface   ...   Voussoirs over windows  ...   Prominent cornice above the entrance



Fifth Pavilion  - Entrance
Roof cornice with dentil molding and frieze below   ...   Pilasters   ...    Rusticated story below entrance cornice



Fifth Pavilion  - Entrance
Mutules and rosettes at top   ...   Paired triglyphs and drops  on frieze   ...    Carved Classical branches flank the City of Buffalo seal  cartouche





Except where noted, color photos and their arrangement © 2019 Chuck LaChiusa
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