Royal Hospital Chelsea Architectural Tour with architect Quinlan Terry and Lt Governor of The Royal Hospital Chelsea, Peter Currie

4th March 2010

Royal Hospital Chelsea, Royal Hospital Road, London, SW3 4SR
www.chelsea-pensioners.co.uk/

Members were invited to an architectural tour of Royal Hospital Chelsea designed by Sir Christopher Wren in 1682 and the newly opened Margaret Thatcher Infirmary by Quinlan and Francis Terry Architects and Steffian Bradley Architects. The tour was led by Quinlan Terry and The Royal Hospital’s Lt Governor Peter Currie.

There are few institutions in the United Kingdom with an unbroken three centuries of service and none of them is so close to the heart of the nation as “The Men in Scarlet”, the 300 Chelsea Pensioners, and their home, the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Founded by King Charles II and intended for the ‘succour and relief of veterans broken by age and war’, the Royal Hospital, with its inspiring Grade 1 listed buildings, still serves its original purpose and intends to continue to further its role well into the 21st Century.

It was here that Mozart rehearsed as a child, where Wren lived when he was building St Paul ’s Cathedral and where the first Duke of Wellington lay in state before his funeral. Today the Thatcher Infirmary is an exemplar, a great example of the finest design for assisted living. Visitors leave understanding why the lifespan of a Chelsea pensioner exceeds the national average by seven years.