SYDNEY—HDR has been appointed as the lead design firm on three healthcare projects across the public and private sectors. The work is part of the firm’s commitment to transform the patient and provider experience across Australia’s east coast.

HDR, in collaboration with DesignInc, will deliver an AU$675 million Community Hospitals Program that will provide Victorians who are not critically unwell with improved access to a broad range of walk-in hospital, community health and social care services closer to home, as well as relieve pressure on major hospitals.

HDR Director of Health in Australia Bruce Crook said the program will improve healthcare accessibility, both in-person and via telehealth services, across burgeoning regions. “This new approach to healthcare is transforming hospitals from conventionally monolithic closed systems to community-driven infrastructure that transcends the walls of the hospital,” he said.

In another major growth area, HDR has also been appointed to design the new $300 million Rouse Hill Hospital. With a focus on innovation and technology, the new hospital will meet the needs of the northwestern Sydney community and connect back into the existing HDR-designed town center, public transport and pedestrian networks.

“We will place the patient, community and staff experience at the center, all while considering how the environment will interact with the end user,” said Joe Mihaljević, HDR director of Health in NSW. “For example, the permeability of the ground floor plane will connect the activity of the new Rouse Hill Hospital with the landscape provided by the site and imbue a sense of openness, healing and connection to Country and community.”

To complete the trifecta, HDR has been appointed to design Macquarie Health Corporations’ Minchinbury Community Hospital Redevelopment in western Sydney; a privately-owned, multifunctional health and wellness facility that will provide specialist clinical and diagnostic services in a community setting. Focusing on mental health, wellness, rehabilitation, surgical and urgent care, it will act as a node for the local Minchinbury community and surrounding area — and meet the demand for hospitals of tomorrow.

“The pandemic has expedited innovations in healthcare across the globe,” said Cate Cowlishaw, HDR managing principal. “We are proud to be leveraging our global knowledge base and channeling our local expertise into innovative design solutions that deliver new models of care across our eastern seaboard.”

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