Queensland Children’s Hospital wins prestigious international design award

Australian designers have set a global benchmark by taking out the prestigious Future Health Project Award for their work on the new Queensland Children’s Hospital.
Announced at the 2013 Design and Health World Congress and Exhibition in Brisbane, the award recognises the design of a future healthcare facility that acknowledges the changing role of the hospital within the wider health system and the local community and demonstrates a vision for health environments. Entries for the award were received from all over the world.
The $1.5 billion Queensland Children’s Hospital is due to be completed in 2014 and is one of the largest public health projects currently under way in Australia. It has been dubbed a super hospital, bringing together two existing children’s hospitals – the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Mater Children’s Hospitals into a new purpose-built facility to provide state-of-the-art paediatric care to the state-wide community.
International judges commended the design concept by Conrad Gargett Riddel and Melbourne based Lyons Architects, based on a living tree with trunks and branches that punctuate the building.
Access to natural light, fresh air and landscaping were key drivers in the design, which according to Conrad Gargett Riddel managing director Bruce Wolfe are critical elements in creating a healing environment. “Patients can experience a greater sense of wellbeing when spaces are designed to feel less institutional through abundant natural light and access to landscape, and offer areas for social interaction and reflection,” he said.
Mr Wolfe played a strong role in bringing the 9th Design and Health World Congress and Exhibition to Australia. The event provided the opportunity for nearly 8000 delegates from 40 countries to engage in discussions on the future of global healthcare and design, with an aim to shift the emphasis from risk factors and the treatment of disease to a more holistic understanding of a health society that promotes wellness.
Queensland’s health minister Lawrence Springbord congratulated the architects. “It is well accepted that the design of healthcare facilities contributes to health and wellbeing,” Mr Springborg said. “The brief for the Queensland Children’s Hospital was to create a healthy space inside and out to help children recover as quickly as possible. “The architects embraced this vision and designed a hospital that will not only be functional, but therapeutic for patients, visitors and staff.”
The hospital proved to be a worthy choice of sites for visitors to the congress. As well as being a major reference through the congress, attendees were invited on a study tour of the facility.
Another Australian project, the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, designed by Billard Leece Partnership, Bates Smart and HKS, took out last year’s Health and Design Award, putting the nation at the forefront of healthcare design.
As well as working on a number of Australian hospitals, Conrad Gargett Riddel is currently involved in several international projects including a design submission for a large hospital project in China using initiatives developed for the recently completed Sunshine Coast University Hospital, and a prefabricated rehabilitation hospital in Libya.
“Patients can experience a greater sense of wellbeing when spaces are designed to feel less institutional through abundant natural light and access to landscape, and offer areas for social interaction and reflection.”
Bruce Wolfe
Managing Director, Conrad Gargett Riddel