Over many years the PLACE Laboratory team have been involved in the ongoing redevelopment of the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre – an important tertiary health campus for Perth, Western Australia.
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PLACE Laboratory has been tasked with reviewing the health campus Urban Design Guidelines to bring them into line with on-going refinement of the Master Plan – the latest being the addition and construction of the New Children’s Hospital.
Our work included a number of parallel studies including an overall Landscape Master Plan and detailed concepts for two major streets – Hospital Avenue and Winthrop Avenue – to demonstrate how the street will look and function when it is Max LRT (light rail) enabled and it becomes part of the hospitals urban fabric.
The Landscape Master Plan provides the opportunity for the Trust to clearly articulate their expectations for a cohesive visual appearance for the landscape and public realm across the campus.
It also provided an opportunity for QEIIMC Trust to set a program to align the campus with contemporary design thinking incorporating evidence based design principles in health facilities and the benefits nature and landscape brings to patients and staff. Research has shown that attractive and well maintained hospital landscapes:
- Incorporating a lot of ‘natural elements’ helps reduce feelings of stress for both staff and patients;
- Can promote a sense of familiarity making a hospital experience more comfortable;
- Help define a clear circulation, especially at arrival;
- Through materials, make the hospital feel less like a hospital;
- Create a variety of experiences; and
- Improve staff retention.
The public realm is the visible and interactive face of the QEIIMC, As a destination attracting thousands of workers, students and visitors daily there is an opportunity for the public realm to embody the aspirations of the Centre, and send a clear message to the public and community – QEIIMC is a safe, reassuring and healing environment.