As healthcare demand grows more complex, so too does the need for planning and infrastructure that connects policy, service delivery, design and research from the outset.
The August 2026 event in AHDC's Complex Challenges, Connected Thinking series was held in partnership with Health Infrastructure NSW, bringing together healthcare planners, designers, clinicians, researchers and government infrastructure professionals across a multi-city format spanning Sydney, Newcastle and Canberra. Through a hospital case study, an innovation showcase and a cross-sector panel discussion, the event explored how health infrastructure can adapt to changing community needs, emerging technology and evolving models of care.
Opening remarks from Nicky Seaby, John Barnard-Richardson and Kate Evans set the scene, emphasising the multidisciplinary collaboration required to address the growing complexity of healthcare planning and delivery. The central message was clear: better healthcare environments depend on connections between policy, service planning, infrastructure, research and lived experience.
Kirstie Irwin, Karen Height and Nicholas Rayner presented the John Hunter Health + Innovation Precinct as a case study in integrating clinical planning, evidence-based design and community experience. A defining feature of the project was its emotional design brief, which translated the experiences of patients, carers, staff and community members into four guiding principles: access to nature, safety and security, access to space, and integrity and privacy. These principles informed the design of inpatient rooms, including clearer zones for patients and carers, stronger connections to the landscape and more adaptable furniture arrangements.
Connection to Country was embedded throughout the precinct in consultation with Aboriginal stakeholders. Landscape design, environmental graphics, artwork, wayfinding and references to local flora and fauna were used to create a culturally meaningful environment with a strong sense of place.
The design process also combined lived experience with rigorous operational testing. Clinical simulation and ergonomic evaluation identified practical refinements to inpatient rooms, including changes to ensuite access, medical gas locations and carer accommodation. This demonstrated the value of testing cultural, emotional and functional considerations together.
Dr Anita Vandyke and Tiffany Chiew explored how research and innovation can be embedded in healthcare delivery and infrastructure planning. Their session reinforced that innovation should not be treated as a separate activity introduced after a facility has been designed. Projects instead need clear pathways through which research, technology and emerging evidence can be tested, evaluated and translated into practical improvements.
An AI-enabled thermal imaging case study demonstrated the potential for emerging technologies to generate new insights into how healthcare environments are used. It also highlighted the need to consider privacy, implementation, clinical relevance and measurable benefits when evaluating new technologies.
Embedding innovation requires more than adopting a new tool. It depends on collaboration between researchers, clinicians, infrastructure teams and technology specialists, supported by governance that enables ideas to be trialled and evidence to inform investment decisions.
Gerard Duck, Nicky Seaby and Anthony Schembri brought policy, infrastructure and health service perspectives to a panel discussion exploring how system strategy can be better aligned with the built environment.
The panel highlighted a fundamental challenge for the sector: major health infrastructure projects can take many years to plan and deliver, while workforce availability, technology, patient expectations and models of care continue to evolve rapidly. Better-connected data is needed to understand not only projected demand, but also whether future services will be financially, operationally and clinically sustainable.
Northern Sydney's ageing population provided a compelling example. If care continues to be delivered in the same way, demand for hospital beds will become unsustainable. The health system must expand preventive, virtual, community-based and hospital-in-the-home services while ensuring that hospital environments remain appropriate for people experiencing frailty, dementia, mental illness and other age-related health conditions.
The discussion introduced the idea of moving beyond flexibility towards "elasticity": creating infrastructure and services that can expand, contract and adapt as demand changes. This requires project teams to review their assumptions throughout planning, design, construction and commissioning, rather than relying solely on forecasts prepared at the outset. The panel also emphasised that connected thinking requires more than goodwill between organisations. It depends on clear governance, shared objectives, trusted relationships and established decision-making pathways that remain effective throughout the project.
The event demonstrated that connected thinking becomes meaningful when it is embedded throughout the planning, design, testing and delivery of health infrastructure. By bringing together diverse expertise and sustaining collaboration across each stage, the sector can create healthcare environments that meet current needs while remaining adaptable to future models of care.
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AHDC extends its thanks to the volunteers whose work made this event possible, and to our partners and hosts: Health Infrastructure NSW, Hunter New England Local Health District and Infrastructure Canberra. A recording of the event is available on our website for members.
Watch the Recording
Ahead of the Australian Health Design Council's state-based in-person event in Sydney, members were invited to an exclusive site visit to the $835 million John Hunter Health Innovation Precinct (JHHIP) Stage 1 in Newcastle. The visit gave AHDC members firsthand insight into one of Australia's most significant health infrastructure developments. Attendees received a high-level project overview followed by a guided tour of key clinical and public areas, highlighting how design, innovation and family-focused thinking have shaped this landmark redevelopment for children, young people and their families.
The John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct (JHHIP) demonstrates how strong design principles can be successfully translated into tangible outcomes that improve consumer experience, support staff, foster innovation and create a culturally responsive healthcare environment. The precinct's focus on consumer-centred care, healing environments, cultural connection and future-ready infrastructure is evident throughout the completed facilities.
A key design principle of the precinct is consumer-centred care, as seen in Image 1. The consumer room has been designed to feel welcoming and non-institutional through the use of warm timber finishes, access to natural light and direct views to landscaped outdoor spaces. Importantly, the room includes dedicated family accommodation and seating, supporting family-centred models of care and recognising the important role families play in consumer recovery and wellbeing. This reflects the project's commitment to creating environments that support both clinical outcomes and consumer comfort.
The importance of healing environments and connection to nature is clearly shown in Image 2. The landscaped courtyard integrates abundant planting, natural daylight and accessible outdoor spaces within the hospital setting. These environments align with evidence-based design principles that recognise the positive impact of nature on recovery, wellbeing and stress reduction. The use of native planting and outdoor healing spaces strengthens the connection between the built environment and Country, providing restorative settings for consumers, visitors and staff while reinforcing the precinct's commitment to place-based design.
Image 3 highlights the precinct's commitment to cultural inclusion and holistic care. The birthing suite incorporates a calming coastal landscape mural that references the local environment and creates a strong sense of place. Combined with the use of natural materials and carefully considered interior finishes, the space moves beyond a traditional clinical setting to create an environment that is welcoming, therapeutic and culturally responsive. These design decisions show how local identity and community values have been embedded into the consumer experience rather than applied as decorative features alone.
A particularly strong example of the precinct's commitment to connection to Country is the integration of culturally informed wayfinding throughout the campus. The Indigenous pathway known as Uncle Bob's Track provides more than a circulation route; it acts as a storytelling and placemaking element that celebrates Aboriginal knowledge, history and ongoing connection to Country. Through landscape, interpretation and movement across the site, the pathway helps consumers, visitors and staff navigate the precinct while reinforcing cultural awareness and local identity. Together with Aboriginal artwork, native planting, local language references and healing gardens, Uncle Bob's Track exemplifies how cultural recognition has been woven into the everyday experience of the hospital environment.
Collectively, these examples illustrate how the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct has remained aligned with its original design principles throughout delivery. Consumer-centred rooms support family involvement, healing gardens strengthen connections to nature and wellbeing, culturally responsive birthing environments create a sense of comfort and belonging, and Uncle Bob's Track embeds connection to Country within the wayfinding experience. Together, these outcomes reflect a healthcare precinct that balances clinical excellence with human-centred design, innovation and cultural recognition, creating an environment capable of meeting the evolving needs of the community for generations to come.
The Australian Health Design Council thanks Hunter New England Local Health District (HNELHD) and Health Infrastructure for their support in organising this exclusive site visit for AHDC members. Thanks to architects BVN and builders Multiplex, who have delivered a precinct that stands as a strong example of design principles translated into built outcomes. The AHDC also extends its gratitude to the volunteers who helped coordinate the visit, and to all attendees for their engagement and interest in advancing health design across Australia.
As Australia's population ages, demand is growing for homes, neighbourhoods and care facilities that support people to live independently and stay connected to their communities. AHDC's second event in the Complex Challenges, Connected Thinking series, Empowering Independence through Thoughtful Design, brought together experts from architecture, healthcare, research, planning and landscape design to examine how built environments can better serve older Australians. Held in Adelaide with a satellite venue in Darwin, the event featured five presentations followed by a panel discussion, covering everything from culturally safe aged care design to therapeutic landscapes and new housing models for ageing in place.
Speaking at Hodgkison Adelaide, Dario Salvatore, Managing Director of Hodgkison, noted that a significant portion of aged care providers have faced financial stress, making innovative and resident-centred design crucial. The message from the event was simple and profound: thoughtful design for our senior population, with safer and more inclusive spaces.
Designing for the ageing community requires a deep understanding of their unique lived experiences and cultural backgrounds. David Kaunitz, Director and Architect of Kaunitz Yeung Architecture, presented guidelines developed alongside First Nations communities, centred around Country and Island Home, culture and community. Yutjuwala Djiwarr Residential Aged Care in Yolngu Country, Nhulunbuy NT, and Kaltukatjara Aged Care in Anangu Country, NT, both designed by Kaunitz Yeung Architecture, demonstrate how considered, culturally relevant aged care design can foster safe, community-centred spaces, offering invaluable lessons for universal empathy and design.
Inclusivity also extends beyond care facilities and into everyday public spaces. Dr Zinan Chen of Tract Consultants shared her PhD research, conducted in partnership with the City of Unley, where older residents served as citizen scientists to audit neighbourhood parks. The audits showed how subtle design details, such as childproof gates, low drinking fountains, and benches without armrests or backrests, can unintentionally exclude older people from local parks. The study used traditional 2D design tools alongside immersive technology, including VR and AR, to help older people better contextualise different design elements while reviewing functionality. Her findings highlight the importance of co-designing spaces with the people who will use them, to enable genuine engagement with nature and community.
Professor Kate Laver, of Flinders University and Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, noted that more Australians prefer to remain in their homes and communities, which means they need better access to information on how to adapt those homes to stay safe and connected. To support proactive planning, Professor Laver introduced a tool, funded by the Australian Research Council, that allows individuals with mild impairments to evaluate and adapt their living environments at an early stage. This would help homes evolve alongside changing needs and functional impairments.
Associate Professor Damian Madigan introduced Bluefield housing, an urban infill model that co-locates new dwellings within existing homes around a shared, high-amenity garden, creating a community-based living environment that emulates a family home. This model maintains a flat hierarchy and challenges the historical perception of "granny flat" living spaces. It promotes social connection, makes efficient use of existing suburban land, and allows seniors to maintain independence within their familiar neighbourhood community.
Landscape design plays a crucial role in providing physical, social, and cognitive benefits, especially for our ageing communities. Tara Graham-Cochrane, Principal Landscape Architect at Tract Consultants, emphasised that therapeutic landscapes should be holistically integrated into the building design. By blurring the lines between indoors and outdoors, designers can encourage frequent, independent access to nature, improving mood, giving users a sense of place, and providing sensory engagement. Graham-Cochrane highlighted the importance of creating familiar environments that reduce unnecessary cognitive load, such as providing a clear line of sight to a destination, introducing recognisable elements, and creating soft transition spaces.
The session concluded with a panel discussion reinforcing that thoughtful aged care environments prioritise quality of life and connection. The speakers agreed that safety features should remain subtle rather than institutional, and that incorporating local art and nostalgic elements helps spark conversation and reduce confusion. Designing for our ageing population is not just about addressing specific physical needs. It is about maintaining dignity, reducing cognitive burden, and enriching community. When environments are designed as inclusive spaces, they empower a thriving ageing population and uphold the dignity our senior members of society deserve.
The Australian Health Design Council extends its thanks to the volunteers whose work made this event possible, and to our hosts: Hodgkison Architects in Adelaide, and AIA, EmAGN NT and Charles Darwin University in Darwin. A recording of the event is available on our website for members to watch, log-in required.
Watch the Event Recording
We're pleased to announce the call for nominations for the Australian Health Design Council (AHDC) Committee for 2027. Your active participation is essential to shape the future of healthcare design in Australia.
As a current AHDC member, your insights matter. The AHDC Committee, comprising 9 members plus the immediate past president, has 3 positions up for re-election each year. Each member is appointed for three (3) years.
Your involvement strengthens our mission to enhance healthcare environments. All members will have the opportunity to vote on the nominations, and you are all invited to the Annual General Meeting, where the new committee will be confirmed.
Nomination is open to current Individual, Student and Non-practicing Members. To nominate, follow these simple steps:
Complete the Nomination Form
Email the form to secretary@aushdc.org.au
Please note the following dates:
Deadline for Nominations: 20 August 2026
Voting Period: 27 August - 16 September 2026
Annual General Meeting: 17 September 2026
Thank you for being part of the Australian Health Design Council.
Links:
Nomination Form
Constitution
Current Committee
The Australian Health Design Council (AHDC) Research Subcommittee, chaired by Dr Sanaz Memari, is pleased to award this year’s Research Scholarship to Maryke Laubscher.
Maryke distinguished herself through a comparative analysis of all applications, which were of a consistently high standard. Her submission stood out for its strong interdisciplinary foundation, exemplary supervisor endorsement, and the clarity and rigour of her methodological approach. Her research aligns closely with AHDC’s commitment to advancing design-led inquiry in health facility planning, with a study focus that is both timely and highly innovative.
Maryke Laubscher is a PhD candidate at Monash University’s Design Health Collab, undertaking an industry‑sponsored doctoral project in partnership with Micro‑X. Her professional background spans industrial design, healthcare technology development, and interdisciplinary research across defence, clinical imaging, and design practice. She has contributed to major national and international projects, including deployable imaging systems, mobile CT technologies, and human‑centred medical device design.
Her thesis, “Designing Deployable Healthcare Equipment: In‑Field Surgical Scanner for Austere Environments,” investigates how advanced imaging capabilities can be purpose‑designed for disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and combat operations. This research addresses a critical gap in deployed surgical care, exploring how imaging systems can be configured in real time to respond to changing operational demands, environmental constraints, and clinical workflows. Her work contributes new knowledge to the design of adaptable healthcare technologies and highlights broader implications for future deployed health facilities, models of care, and imaging‑integrated surgical environments.
On behalf of the AHDC, we congratulate Maryke Laubscher on this achievement.
Maryke Laubscher’s research investigates how advanced imaging technologies can be purpose-designed for disaster relief, humanitarian aid, and combat operations. Existing intraoperative imaging systems are built for fixed hospital environments and are not suited to the constraints of deployed surgical care, which is often delivered in temporary or tented facilities. Through qualitative research, observational studies, and iterative prototyping, her project explores how imaging systems can be designed for denied conditions and how their introduction reshapes surgical workflows, clinical decision‑making, and the configuration of care facilities. Her work contributes new knowledge to the future design of adaptable healthcare technologies and imaging‑integrated surgical environments.
Maryke Laubscher is a PhD candidate at Monash University’s Design Health Collab, undertaking an industry‑sponsored doctoral project in partnership with Micro‑X. She is an industrial designer and design researcher whose work spans healthcare technology development, medical imaging innovation, defence‑health collaboration, and interdisciplinary design practice. Her professional experience includes major national and international projects focused on deployable imaging systems, mobile CT technologies, and human‑centred medical device design. Maryke’s research and design work have been recognised through multiple awards, including the MIME Women in STEMM Student Leadership Award, the Good Design Award (Best in Class Design Research), and the MADA Dean’s Award for Excellence in Enterprising Research.
The below is intended as a high level summary of the 2026 AHDC webinar 'Australian Health Facility Guidelines Update', held 25 June 2026. For the most current information, please always refer the the AusHFG website: https://healthfacilityguidelines.com.au/
Fiona Wilkinson, Director, Economics and Health Facility Advisory Capital and Commercial Advisory, Health Infrastructure NSW provided a background to the recent AusHFG Review and outlined the key findings.
In April 2025, the South Australian Government requested an independent review of the AusHFG to determine:
Whether guideline development processes are robust and evidence based
Whether AusHFG implementation supports value for money
Whether specific AusHFG requirements are driving cost escalation
Whether AusHFG driven requirements add measurable value to health systems and outcomes
The AusHFG review was largely driven by systems pressures, cost of construction and escalation of construction costs. It was acknowledged that these construction and escalation costs were not limited to the health sector, but apparent across all areas of Government, including housing. Increasing costs in public healthcare delivery were also highlighted, specifically an increase from $56B in 2014 to $87B in 2024. Fiona highlighted that all of the recommendations from the previous review of AusHFG in 2021 had been applied and considered in this review.
The Review Process:
The review specifically focussed on its scope, governance and application. Commissioned to independent reviewers in June 2025, involving an independent panel across jurisdictions, with mixed representation from infrastructure and interrelationship governance. Nationally, 80 stakeholders, including a mix of operational staff, were interviewed.The following limitations were highlighted:
Data, including the availability of data
Ability to analyse that data
Access to key people to interview (due to key staff changes etc)
Key findings:
AusHFG is NOT a major cost driver for projects. Significant cost drivers included community expectations, union and college expectations, hospital space requirements and WHS
Findings identified that the AusHFG were well clinically informed. There was unanimous stakeholder support for the guidelines. AusHFG is a valuable national evidence informed resource and should remain in place as a collaborative asset. It was noted that if AusHFG did not exist there was considerable risk of duplication across jurisdictions in setting up individual guidelines.
There was minimal net area growth across the AusHFG. Between 2014 - 2024, across 143 standards, there was growth across 16 Standard Components. Net growth in SOAs across this same 10 year period was 29sqm.
Cost escalation drivers could be linked to how many jurisdictions undertake planning, managing increasing ageing populations and clinical service planning forecasting. Consequently, projections in public health had a strong forward projection, with hospitals being built to reach that capacity. Cost escalations were less evident in the private sector, where the tendency is to build in smaller planning cycles.
Hospitals represent key civic spaces which require long-term planning considerations to be embedded in design. WHS legislation including safety and dignity, and evolving models of care were also identified as key drivers in cost escalation.
When AusHFG are applied consistently, they are successful. Application of the guidelines showed considerable variation, which was particularly evident in larger jurisdictions with a higher population base. Other findings suggested variance in governance and departures, including whether departures and variations were actually recorded.
Recommendations:
Purpose: Reframe AusHFGs as ‘good practice guidelines’ rather than ‘minimum standards’. Exactly what ‘good practice’ means needs further development.
Governance: Variations, reporting and sign off (including the contribution of Health Ministers in the sign off process).
Application: Guidelines as a lever to inform variations, POE and further development.
Scope: Further discussion is required to inform what is included in the AusHFG and if they should be broader, particularly for non-clinical spaces such as BOH areas, workstations and office accommodation.
Conclusion
Maintaining flexibility and moving from minimum standard to ‘best practice’ supports better decision discipline and reduces the opportunity for automatic scope escalation. Targeting the real growth areas such as non clinical spaces, BOH spaces, travel and engineering, and acknowledging the POE are missing link in evidence to inform these growth areas. Efficiency opportunities in governance and application and increased evidence based knowledge around POEs. AusHGs are currently developing a knowledge sharing database to capture information on POEs, variations and departures.
AusHFG will work with AHIA strategy working group to develop an implementation plan, prioritising key actions, noting a three year implementation phase.
Marilyn Mandigma, Lead, AusHFG Health Planning Unit, Health Infrastructure NSW provided Health Planning Unit (HPU) updates, noting these updates offer a more evidence-informed approach:
HPU 340 Adult Acute IPU
Addition of overarching design principles
Support for 50 – 60% single bedrooms for acute Medical and Surgical IPUs (based upon literature, expert consultation and recent projects (benchmarking))
High/Close Observation and Short Stay Unit Guidelines
Guidance for structural columns and service risers
Inclusion of design strategies to assist with patients with extreme behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD)
HPU 360 Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Update to the mix proportion of open bays and enclosed rooms to enable more flexibility in care models
Optional door to interconnected rooms to support staffing models
Optional third (foot) pendant (depending upon service requirements - eg to support ECMO)
Standardised wall panels to support dialysis (including appendix document for further information)
Clarification that overnight stay rooms are optional and can be located external to to unit
Reduction in recommended bathrooms and ensuites as informed by benchmarking and recent projects
HPU 280 Oral Health Unit
Biggest driver for update was alignment with AS5369 (released in 2023), including design, planning and reprocessing requirements. AusHFG recognised there was some challenges in aligning with AS5369, especially in smaller and regional locations.
Strengthened guidance for off site reprocessing, including scalable reprocessing and storage guidance for on-site and off-site reprocessing
HPU 390 Neonatal Care Unit
Design and spatial considerations for newborns requiring prolonged non-invasive ventilation
Design guidance relating to newborn retrieval and transfer services
Updated recommendations on nitric oxide usage, including risk assessments
HPU 620 Renal Dialysis Unit
Strengthened guidance on water treatment plant design
Infrastructure Resilience - expanded guidance on drainage, tundish and pipework
Infection Prevention and control (IPC)
Sustainable Wastewater Management - aligned with jurisdictional requirements
Service Consistency - alignment with other HPU guidance (eg ICU dialysis guidance)
Expanded Appendices
Flexible Patient Care spaces
Isolation Rooms - Engineering and Design Requirements
Isolation Room types
Air changes
Guidance on isolatable pods
Refined airflow design
Air leakage control
For more information and to review the HPUs, go to: https://healthfacilityguidelines.com.au/content/news-updates
Shalyce Corney, Lead, AusHFG Standard Components, Health Infrastructure NSW provided an update on a range of resources and updates.
Educational Videos:
To assist with understanding the AusHFG, three educational videos have been developed and published on the AHIA website:
What are AusHFGs?
How are AusHFGs developed?
How are AusHFGs applied to projects
Watch them here: https://healthfacilityguidelines.com.au/news/new-ahia-resource-ahiaaushfg-educational-video-series
3D Visualisations
A new AHIA Resource has been created in the form of 3D visualisations of standard component rooms. These 3D views have been developed to assist with consultation, and will continue to be provided for future publications. They are publicly accessible from your web browser, you can find them here: https://healthfacilityguidelines.com.au/standard-components
Currently Under Review and Providing Feedback
The AusHFG undergoes progressive review of HPUs and Standard components. You can find the list of items currently under review on the website. Everyone is encouraged to provide feedback on AusHFG via the 'Give Feedback' link.
Find them here: https://healthfacilityguidelines.com.au/currently-under-review
Updates to Standard Components
The following standard components have been recently updated, with some of the key changes noted below:
Intensive Care
1 Bedroom - Intensive Care
Patient Bay - Intensive Care
ICU updated in alignment with HPU updates
Optional door between rooms to support staffing models
Renal Dialysis connectivity and plumbing
Tandem pendent no longer 'wet' and 'dry'. To extent possible, services provided on both sides
Neonatal Care
Patient Bay - Neonatal, Intensive Care/High Dependency
Patient Bay - Neonatal Care, Special care
Zoning within bay
Intensive care/high dependency bay updated to indicate pendant (and raised ceiling to accommodate this)
IPU Accommodation
1 Bed - Inpatient Unit
A number of Standard Components have been retired
One Ensuite design (could be inboard or outboard depending upon how you flip it when applied to the floorplan)
Outboard bedroom with undulation to facade excluded - as data was indicating this is not how buildings were being built)
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AHDC members can watch the full webinar recording (please log-in to view): https://www.aushdc.org.au/Past-Presentations/13647781
As our third AHDC webinar for 2026, this was an excellent overview of the AusHFG review and recent updates to health planning units (HPUs), standard components and upcoming changes.
Thank you to Fiona, Shalyce and Marilyn for your valuable insights.
The site visit offered an in-depth look at the $1.1 billion Peninsula University Hospital campus development, a landmark Public-Private Partnership (PPP) delivered by the Exemplar Health consortium, including Lendlease, Bates Smart, and Architectus. Formally opened in January 2026, the project features a new 12-storey clinical services tower, with capacity for 130 additional beds, and 15 new operating theatres.
A central theme of the design is ‘Healing Country, Healing People’, which was developed through extensive consultation with the local community and Aboriginal groups. This philosophy is embedded in the hospital’s wayfinding, where each level relates to a specific local landscape or story. The architecture utilises a naturalistic palette, including terracotta and porcelain facades designed to filter light and respond to the coastal environment.
The Mental Health and Wellbeing Unit, with 44 beds, represents a significant shift in clinical care by eliminating seclusion and mechanical restraints. Key design features include:
Safety and Dignity: Every patient has a private room with an ensuite and views of natural light. Access is managed via wristband technology, contributing to safety and security.
Clinical Innovation: The unit includes specialised treatment rooms for physical deterioration, reducing the need to transfer patients to the Emergency Department or other wards.
Recreation: Large internal courtyards provide fresh air and include amenities like a basketball ring and gym equipment.
Discreet Admissions: A ‘hot lift’ from the basement provides a secure, private entrance for patients arriving via ambulance or police maintaining dignity and privacy.
Multiple spaces for a range of occupations: Activity of Daily Living kitchen to support cooking related activities, computers in all lounge spaces, gyms, sensory rooms, reflective rooms and group rooms are situated across the floor plan allowing for engagement in a range of meaningful occupations supporting recovery.
The tour highlighted the hospital's focus on staff wellbeing. Level 4 serves as a dedicated hub where staff can take breaks away from public and patient areas. This floor features:
Indoor/Outdoor Break Spaces: Multiple courtyards, winter gardens and beverage bays allow staff to gather and ‘recharge’
Future-Proofing: Large areas of the 4th and 7th floors are currently ‘cold shell’ spaces, designed to accommodate the hospital's clinical service projections through 2036, including a potential future ICU expansion.
Maternity (Level 5): This floor includes a pregnancy assessment unit and special care nursery. The design uses a ‘side-to-side’ patient flow model and includes negative-pressure rooms on every level to enhance infection control.
Oncology (Level 8): The chemotherapy day therapy unit is designed as an open, vibrant environment to encourage communication between patients and staff during treatment. Patient rooms include pull-out beds to allow relatives or friends to stay overnight.
The redevelopment required unpicking more than 80 years of "jammed together" buildings. A complex "spaghetti junction" of bridges connects the new tower to existing facilities on levels 2, 3, and 4, ensuring access to services like the ICU and labs, which remain nearby in the older buildings.
Stage 2 of the project is currently underway. This phase involves the refurbishment of existing spaces into offices, clinic spaces and a new kitchen. A community centre and childcare facility will also be constructed on Hastings Road, with completion expected by 2028. Staff noted that the new facility has vastly improved the quality of equipment and physical space available for both staff and patients, ultimately improving patient care.
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Thank you to everyone who joined us for the Peninsula University Hospital Site Visit in May. Our thanks to VIDA Health, Capella Capital, Honeywell, Compass Group, Lendlease, Bates Smart and Architectus for making the site visit possible.
Photography by Peter Clarke.
In October 2025, the Australian Health Design Council convened AHDC Connect — a pre-conference workshop bringing together around 45 architects, researchers, health planners, and policy professionals to tackle a persistent problem: why doesn't research translate into better-designed healthcare buildings?
The short answer, according to participants, is that it's not a knowledge problem. The evidence exists. The issue is that the systems around design projects: funding models, procurement processes, governance structures, and project timelines; don't make space for research to be used effectively. Research is typically brought in too late to influence key decisions, isn't funded as part of project budgets, and is often presented in formats that don't suit how designers actually work.
Four findings stood out across the workshop. First, the research–practice gap is a system design problem, not a skills gap. Second, if researchers aren't involved at the earliest stages of a project, their input rarely sticks. Third, the bottleneck is adoption, not the production of new knowledge. And fourth, making the economic case for good design is essential: health departments and treasuries respond to numbers, not principles.
Participants proposed practical actions at three levels. Individually: communicate research more clearly and make tacit professional knowledge visible. At the industry level: embed researchers in practice teams, build shared knowledge repositories, and push for peer review that goes beyond aesthetics. At the government level: reform ethics approval processes, require research allocations in project budgets, and develop an economic model that demonstrates the long-term value of design quality.
The workshop's closing message was direct: more evidence alone won't close the gap. What's needed is coordinated structural reform: changes to how healthcare design projects are funded, governed, and evaluated.
The full findings report is available here:
Bridging Practice and Research in Healthcare Design (AHDC Connect 2025).pdf
Write-up by Sanaz Memari, AHDC Committee Member.
The site visit opened with an overview of the five-year redevelopment journey, highlighting the strong collaboration between clinicians, architects, builders, researchers, and the local Aboriginal community.
The project team emphasised how early and sustained involvement from partners such as John Holland, BLP Architects, Health Infrastructure, consumer groups, and La Perouse community representatives shaped every design decision—from the building façade to the clinical model of care. This collaborative culture enabled difficult conversations, rigorous testing of ideas, and persistent advocacy for patient-centred priorities such as single rooms, improved visibility for nurses, integrated research spaces, and child- and family-friendly environments. The result is a purpose-built paediatric hospital that reflects the voices of children, families, and staff, delivered on time and on budget despite the complexity of the broader precinct and parallel projects.
The tour began in the newly designed single-patient rooms, all standardised to feel more like home than a hospital. Key features included neutral décor for personalisation, parent zones with movable furniture, integrated entertainment and food-ordering systems, disability-friendly layouts, and ensuite bathrooms.
From there, the group moved through therapy and recreation areas: a flexible multipurpose therapy room, a dedicated adolescent rec room with gaming and lounge spaces, and a balcony enclosed with mesh for safety—an important design decision that ultimately encouraged frequent family use.
The visit continued into the intensive care unit, where every child now has a private room, including negative-pressure rooms, with improved privacy, space for families to stay overnight, and sliding-door configurations that support different care models.
The tour then shifted to operational and clinical support spaces, including a simulation-capable patient room, medication rooms, and automated dispensing cabinets that streamline access to paediatric-specific medications and support safer, more efficient workflows.
The final stop was the outdoor playground—an intentionally bold departure from traditional “sensory garden” designs. Created after strong advocacy from staff and families, the playground provides a joyful, stress-relieving environment for patients, siblings, and staff, and has become one of the most valued features of the new facility.
Special thanks to the Sydney Children’s Hospital Network and Health Infrastructure for supporting the Australian Health Design Council in organising this exclusive site visit for our members.
We also extend our sincere thanks to our generous hosts and contributors: Cathy Lovell (Sydney Children’s Hospital), Elise Miller (Health Infrastructure NSW), Tara Veldman (BLP Architects), Michael Wylie (John Holland), and Karen Height (AHDC Events Subcommittee rep on the day); along with the many others who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make this site visit such a success.
The Australasian Health Design Council (AHDC) is proud to announce that Tara Veldman has been awarded the inaugural AHDC Gold Medal Award.
The announcement was made during the 2024 AHDC Annual General Meeting, with the award formally presented at the AHDC Conference earlier this week.
This prestigious award recognises an individual who has made an outstanding and lasting contribution to the field of health design. Following an open nomination process and a rigorous scoring and selection process, Tara was selected as the first recipient of the AHDC Gold Medal Award.
The consolidated feedback from the judging committee highlighted that:
Tara has made an invaluable and lasting contribution to healthcare design through her visionary leadership, compassion, and commitment to excellence. Her leadership on major projects in Australia has set new benchmarks for care. While her influence is strongest at the facility level, she also contributes as a thought leader and mentor, sharing knowledge and inspiring emerging designers, thereby shaping the future of healthcare design through both practice and professional development.
We extend our sincere thanks to the AHDC Gold Medal Judging Committee — Kate Copeland, Isabelle Mansour, Warren Kerr, Alex Belcastro, and Ron Billard — for their thoughtful review and deliberation throughout this process.
We also thank all nominators who took the time to acknowledge the exceptional talent and dedication within our community.
We look forward to seeing the continued impact Tara will make through her advocacy and ambassadorship of the AHDC, and the inspiration she brings to the next generation of health designers.
The Australian Health Design Council Inc is a Non-Profit Incorporated Association A0057375N | PO Box 3026 Eltham 3095 | ABN 94 786 233 514 | AHDC © 2025 All rights reserved
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