Silver Thomas Hanley in collaboration with Bates Smart have completed the design of the first phase of the Bendigo Hospital project in Bendigo, Australia.

The $AUD 630 million Bendigo Hospital Project is the largest regional hospital development in Victoria, delivering world-class healthcare facilities that incorporate the latest design and technology solutions, in one of the state’s most environmentally sustainable settings.

The new hospital, opened in January 2017 as Stage One of the project, offers a tranquil and caring environment for staff, patients and visitors through the integration of architecture, landscaping, health planning and evidence-based design. The design provides a clearly definable hospital precinct, celebrating its history, but also linking and consolidating existing programmes, and allowing for future expansion.

The main focus of the project has been the new hospital building which takes its cues from Bendigo’s architectural vernacular and natural context, and unites them with a holistic approach to healthcare. Our design considers the building and landscape as an integrated whole. The built form reaches out and frames the garden setting, whilst the landscape is drawn internally in order to create inner sanctuaries of tranquillity.

The project has created a significant civic building, which not only promotes health on a physical level, but also takes into consideration Bendigo’s social and cultural wellbeing.

As part of the project’s Stage Two, due for completion in mid-2018, the new 78,000sqm hospital will bejoined to the adjacent Lucan Street site via a link-bridge, providing access to a conference centre, helipad and multi-deck carpark, totalling 15,000sqm. The Lucan Street site also provides long-stay accommodation and a childcare centre creating greater amenity to staff, patients and the local community. Short-stay accommodation is planned for the Lucan Street site, as part of Stage Two.

The new Bendigo Hospital is being delivered as a public-private partnership (PPP) under the government’s Partnerships Victoria policy. The PPP’s private partner is Exemplar Health, while its public counterpart is the Victorian State Government.

Interior Design: Bates Smart
Architecture: Silver Thomas Hanley
Photographer: Peter Clarke, Shannon McGrath