Dr S. Cusdin, known as 'Teddy', who was the princpal in the firm of Cusdin, Burden and Howett the Architects, responsible for the design of Addenbrooke's Hospital from Stage One right through to F&G Block, died last month at the age of 97. Teddy Cusdin became involved with the former Board of Governors in 1952 and maintained a close involvement with the development of the hospital from then on.

Signing of the building contract in the Boardroom, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Trumpington Street, on Thursday 15 March 1966. Teddy Cusdin is on the right.

A tribute from W. Graham Cannon, Former House Governor and Secretary at Addenbrooke's Hospital, follows:

Dr S.E.T. Cusdin, known to absolutely everyone as Teddy Cusdin, was appointed Architect to the Board of Governors in 1958. His brief was to plan and design a new hospital, on a site at Hills Road already chosen by the Board, whose chairman was Roger Parker, Lord Lieutenant of the County. I mention this because his position facilitated our request to Her Majesty the Queen to open the first stage of the new hospital, which she did in 1962.

At the time of his appointment Teddy was a partner in the firm, Easton and Robertson, Cusdin, Preston and Smith, a firm which had recently completed the Shell building on the south bank of the Thames. I was appointed in 1960 to a new post responsible for the management of the planning of the Hills Road development and when I began work building under the design of Cusdin, had already started on the outpatients department, the accident service, a small residence and approximately 100 beds for the neurological services and orthopaedics. The speed with which the scheme advanced was in large measure due to the driving enthusiasm of Teddy, and his skill in welding together teams of people, all of whom had something to offer. It should be remembered too, that when Stage One was opened Teddy Cusdin had also planned and completed a Department of Radiotherapeutics for the University and the Department of Molecular Biology for the Medical Research Council, both of which were also opened by the Queen when she came to Hills Road in 1962.

It was during this year, 1962, that the strategy for the total development of the site was completed by the planning team led by Teddy. This document, known because of the colour of its cover as the Yellow Peril, was produced in the hope that the Department of Health would authorise a continuous building programme following the completion of Stage One so that the teams remain intact. This did not happen but during the next few years, Cusdin not only founded his own firm of architects, Cusdin, Burden and Howitt, with offices in Yarmouth Place, London, but also rented a room in The Little Rose, the well-known pub in Trumpington Street, so that one of his staff could always be available for the detailed planning which went on.

Stage Two of the development was the major component, comprising not only a further 400 beds but also the services that would be required for the ultimate hospital of 1,200 beds. It was Cusdin too who devised the plan to set up two teams, on each of which one of his staff was a member; one team was responsible for the detailed planing of Stage Two, led by Alan Bullwinkle, and the other, the Commissioning Team, led by John Mellaney responsible for bringing the scheme into effective operation.

Both these objectives were achieved on time and within the cost limits allowed and Stage Two was opened by Roger Parker, by then retired, in 1972.

Topping out ceremony for stage two on Wednesday 21 October 1970. Teddy Cusdin is third from left.

I am describing the history of the early years at Hills Road because so much of it involved the imaginative and practical skills of Teddy Cusdin. For instance, the famous, some might say infamous, chimney; a total necessity given the planning requirement for its height and the boilers it had to serve, was built in two weeks, using a continuous concrete pouring technique working day and night, a system not previously used in this country. An even more complex task, but less dramatic, was the excavation of the vast area required for the central services of the hospital. An adjacent field between the site and the railway was rented and the topsoil removed and stored on site. The excavation then took place and the soil instead of being taken on roads by lorry, was pushed onto the 60 acre field which was raised by four feet, after which the top soil was replaced and within four months turnips were grown there.

These were technical achievements driven by Teddy, but he brought to the task of designing a hospital a great understanding of priorities for patients. He spent endless hours working with us on the movements of patients, visitors and staff so that the plan of the hospital was such that the separation of the routes used by goods and services, by visitors and staff, and patients in beds could always be achieved. And there was no better and patient advocate for bed space for sick people, when we faced pressures from the Department of Health to reduce the scale of our proposals.

This brief account can do no more than touch on a few of the skills of Teddy Cusdin. He was a most generous and hospitable person liking nothing more than wining and dining us on special occasions. He died in his nineties having had the satisfaction of seeing his plans brought into being and providing the nucleus of the still-growing complex at Hills Road which he did so much to promote and for which he planned the space.

W.G. Cannon
January 2006


 

For further press/media information contact: PR & Communications Department, Box 53, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ; Tel: 01223 274 433; Fax: 01223 257 143; Minicom: 01223 274 604.

Last updated: 31 January 2006
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