Belfast City Hospital Tower Block Tour EHOD 2026

An icon of the Belfast skyline, the City Hospital Tower Block tends to provoke a 'Marmite' response. Love it or hate it, the Tower has a fascinating history. It welcomed its first patients forty years ago in 1986, but the construction process had been so arduous that the building was dubbed 'the baby born with grey hair' in the media when it finally opened its doors.

The Tower was conceived as the focal point of a new health 'precinct' in the early 1960s. This was an era when modern, large-scale developments would sweep away entire districts and the Tower represented a significant transformation of the historic City Hospital site. The Belfast Union Workhouse of 1841 and several other buildings were demolished to make way for it. But the designers and builders faced numerous challenges to completion over almost a quarter of a century.

Financial constraints, industrial strife and changes to the design were all set against the backdrop of the conflict.

Today the Tower remains a hub of healthcare in Belfast, including a busy outpatients department, cancer treatment facilities and cutting edge research connections.

Join the Belfast Trust Estates team, who keep the Tower and its systems running around the clock, for this special behind-the-scenes tour, new for EHOD 2026.

Please note that this site includes steep steps and narrow passageways. As a result, some areas may be inaccessible or challenging for visitors with limited mobility, and the site is not fully wheelchair accessible.

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