Architectural Review Asia Pacific

Architecture and the Body March/April2012

Theatrical Social Space Silvester Fuller Curative Architecture Bates Smart 'A multi-striped slitherer' Sir Peter Cook

124 Imperfect Health The Medicalisation of Architecture -~··~rvevt.w.eom

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102 ProjKt R•viiW Royal Chiklrtm's Hospital

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Melbourne's new Royal Children's Hospital is a design bench­mark, reviving a tradition of world - leading medical architecture from Australia. Incorporating a respect for landscape, as well as the psychological benefits of artful interior design and carefully planned wayfinding devices, it is a project of considerable integrity and skill.

W hon the Royal Children·~ Ho!pital (RCH) opened

on iU pre&ent site h'l 1963, it was an offichmt, air-condition&dcroam-bricks\obthathlled

to take advantage of the site's el(poaure to Royal Park.

Although an icon in the community's eyo,lt barely seemed

to address the psychological neods of sick children.

Banishing nature, it was typical of the hermetically cealed

sle.bs associated with hospital' oftt\o era. FastforwardneartySOyears,wl\oraicleataoflight,

air and landscape have returned to Australian h05pital

building. becoming key drivers of tho now RCH's form and

finish,aswollasitsmastcrplanning,intcrnelorganita· tion, wayfinding strategies, interior design ;;~nd artwork. Conaideringthl!'scatl!'ofthlsSt billion project, the

concept dovotopod by tho BLBS Joint Venture (Billard Leece Partnership and Bates Smart Architects) achieves

remarkabledesignintogrityacrossavastcampus. Anearlyhurdlowasthocontroversialsitingofthe

newbui!dingodjacenttothee~dstingfacility.Community

concornswere ralsodaboutpubllcp<~rklandbeinglost,

butwhiletheoldhospitaloccupicd4.1 hectares, the responsetookupexactlythesamearea,prosrossivoly

demollshingtMoldcomplaxsothatparklandremains untouched.Evonduringconstruction,builders'hutswero arr~;~nged around existing eucalypts, and community

opposition gradually turned to support.

The project's mastorplanner. Ron Billard,employed a lundamentalplanni ngstrategy:usingthe sloplngsito

to locate the Emergency ~partmont just below gr,ado at Flemington Road, along with all public parking and

servi<:es. Theresultisacompleteabsencaof ugly sarvico road; ringing the comp{ax. The building's main face to

Flemington Road floats like a tree canopy, adorned with sun·shading 'leaffpetals'in colours that chango from red

to groan, whit a the massive Outpatients block is bisected by a series of courtyard gardens. On the quiet northwest side of the site, in disc ret~ star-shaped inpatient blocks,

each bedroom has tho salubrity of a hotoland a court· yard view, or of Royal Park. Each corridor ends in a gtaud

sitting bay. It may still be hermetically sealed. but there Is the prospGct of natura, surprisingly for a city building.

Thahospital"sinternalorganisationatsplne,thcl broad,light·filled'MainStreot',torminatoainaland·

scapDd sarden mound with views beyond to Royal Park. Running the length of Main Street is 'Sky Garden'. five

delicate,mobile·likeloafcanopiesbyBrtistJadeOakloy. The~e dosigfl strategies were directed towards how o.n illchildmightfeel,nutlifyingpainnotjustwithmedical carebutwithnormalislngenvironmentalandoxporiontisl

measures. Families were considered, too. Whon a child is in hospital, visitor& invariably include not just parents

but atao brothers, sisters 8nd often grandparents,

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Projec:tDetalls

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Archfucts : B~lard lncl PlftnershlpiM Btt" Smart A.rchitactl with HKS aslnternatiol\lll ..:lvisors- Project dlr&etore: Krbten Whittle, Ron Billard, Sho1111 Propote;h, Mar~ Mitchtll, JeH CopOioll, lvc;y Btst , Ron 0.0011, Rog£-r PoeM, David LOKI, Jim Milodge - Proj1ct lui;! an;: And rt w

Francis, Matk HNlty, Mirjll!'la Sa,zlll"'lc;, W~roe Rowen. Rtl~ Burne, Rogllf Oapman -Client: Oopenmont ol Heallh - Bulldarr lolnd LNIO - Counctl: City of Melbourne- Co11traet Valua: AUDSI .t billion- Size: 165,000 "1"1 (5t~e1 : 140.000 s.qm, stage 2.: 25,000 sqm)- Cons ult · ents: SeNic:u: Norm«~ 0~ Young Pty l td - Strvcturul: Irwin Comultlog Pty ltd- Fn: BGe.E -Building S!XW'yor: Mckfmlie Gre>up­TraffM:: Hydor- L~At'ehh~t: land Otsign P¥tnerthip- Acc:.u: Morris Goding A«IIS Conwltlng - Acotn!ic:: Mor$l'lall o.ty N:.~tM::I

- ~~: Bloii'ONotll'l- C<xnm/!sJOMd Artists: Akl~ondor Ktloll, J- Reiseger, Jilda o.k!w Dnl.gn IOftWifl : Ac.cl, MICtoS" don, Revit ­Bid IWirded: No'ft""'-r 2006- Compledon: S t~l 1: November 2011; Stage 2: 2014

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The hospital produces inte­rior experiences for children that are magical, tactile and engaging, thankfully avoiding cloying Disneyland design.

whichmoanspublicvisitornumberscanb(lveryhigh.

Thehospitalhadtoincorporatomcmor<:~b\o visualcuos

and expansive and appropriate eroup seating for fami l ies -ithadtoboaplace\'lhoropeoplewouldwanttocomo.

According to Bates Smart's Kristen Wh ittle, d irector of

designonthep roject,'Evidencu· baseddesign inacll il· drer~'s hosp itc~lcalls fordGsigrlod ~di stract i onsft', so tho

designteamprodw;:edinteriorexperiencesforchildren thataremagical, tact ileandengaging.Thankfully, they've

avoidadthcc loyingDisncytandaspoctofmuch 1990s hospitaldesign, instcadstrikinganunusual balance,an appealtobothtMionocentandsoph ist icated.

Onentcringthesix-storeyMainStreot-with its

blonde· plywoodlower·levelwaUs,bBlcony revealsanl$ coi tings, andupperlevelsofwhite-thereisanimmedi· ate sense of 'Scandinavian' calm. The inlormation coun­

terisad ramatic,white -polishedsquiggte,apieceof 'art'. To tho right. chi\dwn aro ~;Jrawn immediately to tho giar'lt

two-storey,cylinl$ricalfishtank. lt'sa'd istraction',yes, butalsoaverticalmarkerfortheEmergencyDepartment

ontholel'el bolow.BoyondisthoCrooturo, ahugo, mu lti­colouredsculpturebyMelbourneartistAlexandcrl'\oox,

andanothercueforvisitorsemergmgfromthepublie carparkbolow,ad irectionalmarkortowardsOutpat ients.

Thismajorintersectiondelineatesanaxisofcourt­yardsandadjoiningwa itingareapodsbeforethemajor

outpatientwait inga rca.There. inthofinalcourtya rd. chitdrenandparentscaneojoy th emeerkatenclosu re, anot her'dist racti on'andaspllcialcoUaborationbetween

the RCH and Zoos Victoria. Such ma rkers help visi ­torsnavigatethevastscaleofthecomple•,anOaach

intoriorschemorelates inco\our, toxtureandlntroduced artwork (manydoncbychildrcn)tothcfloraand fauna

ofeightVietorianlandseapes,fi'Qm PortPhilhpBayto alpinoVictoria.Th ischild-friondlywayfiodingdevieowas

prodl.lcedbyMelbourneillustratorJaneRcisegerond coordinated by Mark Healey of Bates Smart, th e lead

intcriordesigoor. ln 1950 G. E. Kidder Smith, writ ing on Hjalma r

CederstrOm'sSouthern Hospil i! l in Stockholm,ques · tionod 'whethor a building as Mormous as this does

notbegintobecome inhumanbyitsverymassand to sodominateboththepatlentandthetownthatitssiJ:e

beginstodcfcatitself'. Bycontrast,thoRCHislogible, easytonavigatcaoOtranquil .Whenlvisited,itwasbul!l!­

ingwithpMplo.Ughl,ai r and \andscape,longheralded virtuesforahca lthyboOy,wcrocvcrywhoroinovidcnco.

Remarkably, every child I saw seemed gen1.1inety happy to bothoro.ar

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