The Victorian Society in the UK, the champion for Victorian and Edwardian buildings, has written to the NHS Trust which runs the hospital to express concern at the level of demolition planned for the historic Royal Sussex site, including the destruction of a Grade II-listed chapel.

Central to the redevelopment and modernisation of the county hospital in Brighton will allow specialist services to sit alongside facilities and equipment for treating the most critically ill and injured patients and the hospital to be designated as the level one trauma centre for the south east; medical and cancer inpatient wards to be moved from accommodation that is nearly 200 years old into modern, purpose-built facilities; vital improvements to be made to the hospital infrastructure, which will mean efforts to prevent and control infection and provide safe and dignified care are no longer hindered by sub-standard buildings; and a redesign of the hospital to make it more welcoming, comfortable and easier to navigate and improve the experience of every patient and visitor.

The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust says that the facilities at the Royal Sussex are inadequate and is working on a new plan to redevelop the site on Eastern Road and build a major trauma centre for Sussex and the South East.

The main hospital building was designed by Sir Charles Barry, architect of the Houses of Parliament, and was completed in 1828. There are also some important Victorian additions on the site, such as the Adelaide and Victoria wings and the Jubilee building. The listed chapel was designed by the architect, William Hallett in 1856.

The Victorian Society is urging the NHS Trust to take a more sustainable and imaginative approach to redevelopment and retain and adapt the historic buildings, which take up only a relatively small proportion of the land available.

Save Britain’s Heritage recently published a report on the Royal Sussex County Hospital, as part of a campaign to stop the plans. According to the report, the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust must be made to adapt its plans for remodelling the hospital. Given that the Barry block and the mid- and late 19th-century buildings occupy a small proportion of the overall footprint of the site, they could easily be retained within an improved and extended hospital.

The scheme proposed by the trust includes the demolition of Barry’s original façade and its replacement with a new block. Not only is Barry’s façade of exceptional historic importance, it also forms a striking spectacle from the south. The hospital’s elevated position makes it a prominent landmark and the historic elements of the hospital are crucial to defining the special character of the conservation area. The scheme also involves the destruction of a number of important later additions including the wings added in the 1850s, the listed chapel and other 19th-century buildings.