 | HEALTH PROJECTS A range of projects underway or recently completed in the health sector.
| 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.
Photo Martin Saunders
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| 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.
Photos Adrian Welke
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| 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.
Photo Silvertone Photography
|
| 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.
Photos Martin Van Der Wal
|
| 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.
Images Michael Mossman
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| 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.
Photos Martin Farquharson
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