2012 National Architecture Awards: Public

The Royal Children’s Hospital by Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart Public Architecture: National Award Australian Institute of Architects

Jury citation

The Royal Children’s Hospital, set within Melbourne’s Royal Park, is a state-of-the-art, world-class facility designed around a family-centred care model that promotes a restorative and healing environment for children and their families. With an evidence-based design showing the importance and value of nature in the healing process, the hospital exploits its park location.

The natural textures, forms and colours of the surrounding parkland inform the material expression. Nature speaks to the child and provides a therapeutic backdrop for visitors. The use of narrow footprints for clinical buildings enables natural light to enter all corners of the facility, while the slope of the site entwines the hospital with its park setting, linking on three levels.

Coloured “leaf” blades along Flemington Road are fabricated in curved panels, providing protection from the sun and creating a shimmering organic structure and identity for the hospital. At the heart of the facility is the six-storey “Main Street,” a naturally lit public thoroughfare with views of the parkland beyond that links all the elements of the hospital.

The complex is large in scale; however, a collection of attractions is contained within — these amuse and distract, and provide a user-friendly environment that includes a two-storey aquarium, large-scale artworks and places to eat and meet with family, colleagues or friends. The jury found this to be an environment intuitive to its user groups, which include patients, their families and carers. The hospital’s bold use of art and installations, including its mini zoo of meerkats, and its sensitive provision of contemplative, respite and recreational areas, make this a holistic and therapeutic architectural project.

Read a review of The Royal Children’s Hospital, from Architecture Australia.

Credits

Project
The Royal Children's Hospital
Architect
Billard Leece Partnership
Australia
Architect
Bates Smart
Australia
Consultants
Acoustic consultant Marshall Day Acoustics
Builder Lendlease
Building services consultant Norman Disney Young
Building surveyor McKenzie Group
DDA Morris Goding Access Consulting
Environmental consultant Norman Disney Young
Landscape consultant Land Design Partnership
Project manager Lendlease
Specialist Paediatric advisor HKS, Inc
Structural and civil consultant Irwinconsult
Wayfinding Büro North
Site Details
Location 50 Flemmington Road,  Parkville,  Melbourne,  Vic,  Australia
Project Details
Status Built
Category Health

Source

Award

Published online: 2 Nov 2012
Words: National Architecture Awards Jury 2012
Images: John Gollings, Shannon McGrath

Issue

Architecture Australia, November 2012

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