Dandenong Hospital Redevelopment
The first stage of the Dandenong Hospital redevelopment, by Hassell, explores a new ward organisation made possible by the flexibility of state of the art communication technologies. The cruciform plan locates sub-unit groups of 12 patients in three wings, with their care teams close to the bed rooms. The architects describe the resulting environment as light, quiet and restful, yet optimistic. The project is the first to house acute adult beds along with subacute aged beds and rehabilitation services, which are integrated into the external landscape over several levels. Sitting among other buildings of disparate vintage and quality, the project seeks to draw these elements together. Subsequent stages will remove and/or replace adjoining buildings, so this project also sets up an approach and a palette of material for future work.
Nganampa Health Council Clinics
Troppo are undertaking a series of new health clinics for the Nganampa Health Council, an Anangu community-controlled health organisation that provides primary healthcare to all people living on the Anagu Pitjantjatjara Lands in the far north-west of South Australia.
There are currently six major clinics, three clinics in smaller communities across the AP Lands, and an aged care facility at Pukatja.
Open daily, the clinics provide an outpatient service, with all acute patients airlifted to Alice Springs. They are part of a three-stage program for the redevelopment and replacement of existing health clinics and staff housing. The new clinics were designed to a brief written by Paul Pholeros in consultation with the NHC, health workers and Anangu in each community. A modular planning approach allows the provision of specific functional spaces that can be added to or deleted from each clinic/community as required.
Armadale Health Campus, WA
Located in a semi-rural setting at the foot of the Darling Range, the Kelmscott Memorial Hospital by Silver Thomas Hanley, seeks to “fit” with the surrounding domesticscale development and community commitment to the natural environment, and to create a welcoming, non-threatening approach. Inside the public and patient facilities have been designed to provide spacious, well-lit areas with as much access to natural light as possible. The major public health facility accommodates 260 beds, including the co-located Galliers Private Hospital and public and private day places.
Coffs Harbour Health Campus
Woods Bagot completed the Coffs Harbour Health Campus in October 2001.
A public hospital on a greenfield site, it accommodates 202 beds, four operating theatres, day procedures, and endoscopic suite and ICU/CCU facilities. The development was designed around four distinct care centres, each with its own entry and reception: critical care, family care, medical and therapeutic care, and mental and general well being. Designed as a resort-style facility, the project emphasises the external courtyards that take advantage of the balmy climate and allow patients, including those in bed or undergoing treatment, ready access to outdoor areas.
Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service, Sydney
Merrima are designing new premises for the Redfern Aboriginal Medical Service. The site is in a historic precinct which formerly housed the St Vincent’s Roman Catholic Group including a church, presbytery, convent and school circa 1887.
The AMS currently operates from the school buildings site. The new building will be inserted into site of the convent, demolished after fire damage in 1987. The convent’s remnant wall will be retained as part of a new facade, which is made of similarly coloured brick and lightweight cladding with steel and timber screens to windows, stairs and decks. The rhythm of the screen’s structural steel relates to the narrow upright windows of the convent and the existing church and, more generally, to vertical proportions of the Gothic style. Outdoor space is maximised on the tight site, with a large external courtyard off the ground floor waiting area and an outdoor terrace off community health on the first floor. Ravines and gorges around Sydney inspired the landscaping between the narrow slot of church and new AMS building. Internal and external colours relate to Sydney harbour and its indigenous vegetation.
Oral Health Centre of WA, Perth
The new Oral Health Centre of WA, by Hames Sharley is the result of a partnership between UWA and the State Government, with the collaboration of Curtin University and the Central Metropolitan College of TAFE. The facility educates and trains approximately 150 UWA dental students, 50 Curtin University dental hygiene students and 128 TAFE dental technicians and assistants. An integral part of the centre is its capacity to treat approximately 15,000 public dental patients per annum, and the centre also includes research facilities. Three interconnected buildings, totalling approximately 10,000 square metres, are grouped around a central entry atrium on university-owned land at the southern end of the QE II Medical Centre in Perth. The design evolved from the university’s desire for the building to be seen as a part of the medical precinct on the QE II campus, while also being sufficiently different to delineate it as a UWA facility. In the design the architects have attempted to present a high-tech image, consistent with the buildings’ medical function, tempered by a limestone base as a foundation for the building, which acts as a reminder of the links to the main UWA campus.
