The Dolgellau and Barmouth District Cottage Hospital was founded in 1920. It was enlarged in 1928 with buildings designed by North and Padmore, of Llanfairfechan.

The original building, T on plan, had the men's ward in one wing and the women's in the opposite wing, both single-storey and facing south uphill. In the stem were kitchen, offices etc. either side of a central passage leading from the entrance at the south end. This imposing entrance was (and still is) up a flight of steps and through a Gothic arch typical of North, lined with purple brick in contrast to the white roughcast walls. The building, at this point of three storeys because of the hill site, forks each side of the archway, the wings at 45 degrees and rising to steep gables. Gables proliferate elsewhere, as do catslide dormers which, on the south elevation, develop into complex little roof-plane exercises. The windows were originally Hope's metal casements, sized carefully in relation to room function, orientation and external appearance.

North designed further extensions in 1933, including an operating theatre with a big north-facing window. Alterations and extensions since then have changed the basic layout of the hospital, including the approach and entrance, but the original buildings can still be seen.

Adam Voelcker, 9 October 2009