The Rajkumar College, founded in 1868 by the erstwhile rulers of Kathiawar, is the oldest  of colleges founded for the education of the princely order. The institution occupies an estate of around 25 acres now centrally siituated in Rajkot, its wide ranging facilities largely housed in its early gifted indo gothic buildings in English renaissance fashion.

Presently located in the south east corner of the Rajkumar college, the Hide Sanitorium was completed in 1909 and was designed by H.S. Davis, Agency Engineer , Kathiawar. It was built to commemorate the vice principalship of Percy Hide, Esq., who was appointed in 1904.

The Structure

The building stands on 'sandy clay' soil. It is constructed in Porbander stone masonry, 12" thick strecher courses, laid in lime mortar. Foundation and plinth are 24" thick random rubble masonry in local grey stone. Main rooms are spanned by jack arch roofing, the arches being supported by 9" × 4" I-sections. Fenestrations are spanned by flat arches in porbander stone with decorative floral motifs at lintel and still level on the exterior.

The inner walls are plastered in lime mortar while the exteriors are left exposed. Exposed stone masonry has flush pointing in lime mortar. The verandah and rooms have terracotta tile flooring in diagonal pattern.

Building Condition 

Over the decades the sanatorium building has developed visual signs of structural distress such as

• outwardly leaning walls.
  Ingenious RCC butresses and RCC beams were added above the parapet walls to support these leaning corners that were adding to the dead weight besides distorting the scale of the building.
• structural cracks in load bearing walls
• failure of verandah arches and flat arches above the openings
• percolation of water from roof and subsequent and corrosion of I-sections

structural cracks  in masonry wall and failure  of lintel arches - South Wall, West Room	RCC butresses

Structural distress evident in failure of verandah arches	Fissurse in roof slab

Restoration Measures

Structural restoration measures specifically intended to facilitate reuse of the structure as a preparatory school include,

• Site clearance, removal of trees and vegetation, reversal of slopes and provision of drain along the eastern boundary for effective site drainage
• Underpinning and additional masonry support for foundation on the east and west sides
• RCC column beam support framework for the inner walls
• Providing stainless steel ties from inner walls to the verandah outer wall
• 6mm thick pre moulded MS flats to support verandah arches fixed with anchor fasteners

Water Proofing on terrace  -  Click here

Pictures taken after restoration - Click here