Modern tmachine for healing' ARCHITECTURE ROYAL CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL Atcllitects: 8ila~d Ieece ParlneMip and B.ates Smart Atthitects Joe Rollo Reo.ie·~er NOTI II NG reveals. the advances in children's mctliC.''ll care more
powcr·fullyrhan Ihe new billiondollar lloyal Children's IIOSI>ilal on l'lcmingron llono. This rrcmcnoous new fad lily in Parkville, on n ~cnlc un\)CC· ccdCntcct in Ausl rnlln, wil ,
sur('ly. sea a new hcnchnwrk in hospiral design for children. IfI.e (;())busier could caliche modern house ·a mnrhlnc for living·. chis rorrnlrlable hospilal can be desc-ribed as a marhine for healing. An e>lraordinary interplay heawccn strw.:t\arc and nature charactcrlo;cs its arch I· reeturc, crammed, ash Is, \\111•
lhe laltSIICChnoloj,')' and exq ui~ire surglcol racilllios and
appat(liUS (or lnt cn~:;I\'C oml
spcci:oilsed care. su mptuou<ly laid our and admlmbly serviced. The Royal C:hililr~n·s bdungs
Art and nature rnolifs adorn the Royal Children's Hospital on Flemington Road.
tO a newgem:rtHIOI\ Of fHihliC
hospilal, with none of the stigma ora charity Or~ani$;Hion
-though ir srillrcllcs on donations a no irs )'early appeal for •nany special projccls - in which rhe building's rclarion· ship \\ilh narurallighr and rhc ourdoors plays a crucial role In healing body and mind. There's an extcMive body of research re\·ealing the value or
naruralllghrantl of narmc ilscl(
in impro\1ng wcii ·IJclng. (:fvcn
lhe beauty of HoyJI Park,lnro which rhe howllol ls lnscrrcd, working wirh rhc 11ark became an early design focus for rhc architcc1s, Dillard l.cccc l)iHI· nership and Olltcs SmArt,
because ir could pr0\1de rhcm · pculic benefirs 10 chose In rhc hospiral. AJ>d iris rhc connection wirh the park that is most striking
abourrhe ex1>erlcnce ohislllng rhe hospiral for rhc nrsrrlme. Ughl and s11n Oood lnro ils deepcs1 recesses and )'Our C)'C is constand)•drawn to plrasant \riews into and through the park.
ll'har's been produced here Is as close to an evoca1lon or nature in a building as I can think of.
'I he statistics MC staggering: 160,000 squ~uc mcucs Ofhuild·
ings, over 5000 rooms, 240,000 patients a )'~M~ 230 emergency 1>aricnrs a day. 4000 srarr. addl · rional patient tapaclly of35,000 a rearJ and more. But it is the ar<."hitccturc and its concetn for 1he children,
their families and srarr lhartnrly impresses. Deftly derailed and luxuriously finished, ills clear thai priorily inrhe design ha< been g,i\'en co cheir experience oflhe building.
E.sscnrlally a clusrcr or five buildings linked by~ sLx-storey atrium nnd main street, the
designers have taken C\'cry upportunlly ro either ha,•e rhc buildings spill our inro rhe park or be surrounded b)•safe and llfOicctcd pla)•grounds and gardens. ·rhe inpatient unjt. two >ldr-shaptd buildings for long>lny paricnrs. pushes d«pcsl huo rhc I>Mk and aflords Ieee-
lOp views from en~·ry room.
Wilh Iheir sunshade sysrem of laminated rransluccnr glass
panels, In shades of green tO replicate n rreccanopy, rhesc buildings hnrrnonlsc rnosl wirh th~ park; their cxtcrna1 appearance of green-frilled glass sunshades, dirry-whlle and grey conriC.:tc panels work.in.g in
concertos: a ramoufh1gc. Main Street, the 100-metrclong oricnrarion space from whldl you arcess all areas of the hospilal, has rwosuper-scaled lnslallt~lion.s: one. a ·creature"' wirh Ouucring buuerOy by Melbourne nrcist 1\lexander
Knox; rhe orhero leafy 1:mnd mobile sculpwrc by Jndc Oakley. Impressive, roo. Is Its ncrwork of ramps and bridges and srairs criss-crossing rhc space, tlnd In timber veneers tOrecall the branch structure of trees. Much has ~en made of the two-srorey aquarium In the emergency deparrmenr and the urtcrly channing meerkal enclosur~. bur jusr as Impressive are rhe playgrounds and gardens. An enclosed piny· ground ncar rhe mcerkar display in rhe outparienrs area, complerely enclosed and safe, open to rhc sky, appears 10 work as a great place ror dlsrrncrlon while walling 10 be aucndcd by hosplralstaff. ncrnarbble, roo, Is rhc facade.fronlir>g Flcmlngron Road "1rh lis skln or C·shuped glass panels rransltlonlng from whirc to green 10 red and pink, like shimmering leaves, :•s rhe)• spread along Ihe raoe or Ihe b11ildlng. The Royal Children's Is a fusion of inrcrlor and exterior spaces designed 10 ctcare a hos· pllal experience like no or her. As a place oflasr rcsou for children, I can rh!nkof no bcuer place.