Scaling up wellness

An in-tune hospital redevelopment in South West Sydney includes Hospital Street, a lofty art-filled indoor avenue connecting new, existing and to-come facilities

Large-scale illustrations by Erica Seccombe feature along Hospital

Sunset over Dharawal Country reflects in Campbelltown Hospital’s

The western facade among the treetops. Photography by

Sweeping curves and timber cladding define the main

Light-filled and art-filled Hospital Street. Photography by Brett

Aerial view of the hospital’s main entrance.Photography by

Sculptural work by Nicole Monks. Photography by Brett

Walls lined with illustrations in the new paediatric

Erica Seccombe’s enchanting drawings of Australian flora and

Illustrations partner with colourful design elements to form

An enclosed, turfed basketball court (above), open-air gym

The eastern facade overlooks landscaped gardens, lawns and

Designed by Billard Leece Partnership

From the architects:

The centrepiece of the $632 million Stage 2 Campbelltown Hospital Redevelopment in South West Sydney utilises the latest thinking around healthcare and healing environments at an almost unmatched scale, resulting in the near doubling in size of the Campbelltown Hospital campus.

This hospital ensures the growing community of Campbelltown is well looked after into the future, says Tara Veldman, BLP managing director, principal & health lead.

“The new building includes adult and children’s units as well as the integration of mental health services, enabling the delivery of contemporary healthcare in a holistically designed precinct.”

Located in Dharawal Country, the 12-storey project involved the refurbishment of existing buildings and addition of new facilities: emergency department, intensive care unit, women’s health services and maternity suites, children’s wing, state-of-the-art operating theatres and mental health unit.

Key response

A key architectural response to the planning and integration of services is the art-filled Hospital Street.

This lofty indoor avenue, featuring a collection of works by indigenous and non-indigenous artists, connects the new and existing facilities as the fulcrum from which all the hospital services are now accessed.

Filled with natural light, comfortably furnished and serviced with food and retail outlets, as well as play and recreation zones, Hospital Street is an uplifting arrival point and meeting space designed to navigate people through the hospital.

The atmosphere is calm and welcoming, with a palette of organic materials acknowledging the sensory effects of space on wellbeing.

Unlocking potential

The design of Hospital Street was a game-changing moment in the project, because it unlocked the potential of the whole site, allowing us to integrate the various new wings as well as create strong new connections to light, landscape and the community,” says Adam Muggleton, BLP principal & project director.

“In its scale we think of it more as an airport terminal,” says Muggleton. “The height helped us purposefully manage level changes between the existing and new facilities, and future-proofs the hospital because further additions can simply plug-in along this spine.”

Integrated mental health

A key innovation is the seven-storey integration of mental health services.

The range of new spaces supports modern models of trauma-informed mental health care and includes sensory rooms, de-escalation rooms, light-filled courtyards and unexpected activity rooms, such as an open-air basketball court.

Family focused child care

Another innovation is the approach to paediatrics.

BLP brings more than 25 years’ healthcare expertise to the project conceptualisation, including recent experience designing five tertiary paediatric hospitals in Australia and Asia.

Key learnings and research from these projects informed the development of recreational zones at Campbelltown Hospital, created specifically for the use of families with young children in hospital.

“When a child is hospitalised, great strain is placed on parents and families, and stress levels reach a peak,” says Veldman. “To ensure the family unit can still function, we created dedicated parent-family centres within the confines of clinical space, encouraging comfort and connection.

"There’s an outdoor picnic and play area off Hospital Street and a tech-enabled workroom.”

Community engagement

Ongoing consultation with the Campbelltown community and local Indigenous elders shaped many aspects of the design, particularly the look and feel of key public spaces.

This is managed through the materials used and links to the nearby landscape, resulting in a health-affirming and inclusive environment that welcomes a diverse mix of cultural and demographic groups.

Connections to country

Recognising a growing body of international evidence that demonstrates the measurable impact of art on health outcomes, BLP supported a groundbreaking indigenous art strategy at the start of the project, convening a ‘healing circle’ around which all stakeholders were invited to join the conversation and share their ambitions for the project.

The aim was to meaningfully include respectful cultural presence into the building.

To do this, visual connections with the landscape were established through the extensive use of full-height windows, allowing an abundance of natural light into areas such as the mental health services, maternity suites and public zones.

Additionally, flora and fauna motifs were drawn from the surrounding Cumberland Plains and beyond.

Art and culture

Taking the shape of feathery helixes, the sculptural works of lead indigenous artist Nicole Monks are suspended in Hospital Street.

Monks also curated new spaces outside the hospital, including the outdoor Welcoming Stone – a beacon of safety for First Nations people inspired by the sacred birthing stone.

Non-indigenous artist Erica Seccombe created botanical drawings of endemic healing plants intertwined with native Australian wildlife, used as graphic wayfinding motifs on each level of the hospital.

Her captivating illustrations have also been brought together at scale in a three-storey montage along Hospital Street.

The completion of the new clinical services building consolidates the $134 million Stage 1 expansion that began in 2016.

Servicing a rapidly increasing population, which is expected to grow in South West Sydney by almost 1 million people (or 46%) over the next 20 years, the Campbelltown Hospital is scaled for purpose, wellness and wellbeing.