CLEAN DESIGN AND OPERATIONS
Design for sustainability BY HELEN WAYLAND
M
elbourne has been voted the most live·
able city in Australia this )'ear a1td the second most li\'eable c ity in the world. Creal· ing a new children's hospital for this growing, vibra•H, and cuhur· ally diverse metropolis is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) under the Victorian Government's Part·
ncrships Victoria policy. Under the scheme, the Royal Children's Hospital ( RCH; figure l) -b<ing the public sector-will own and operate the hospit<'ll<'lnd provide all core clinical services, staffing,
teaching, training. and rest11rch, while Childre•t's Heahh Partner·
ship (CHP) finances., designs, cons-tructs, a•td maintains the new building for a period of 2S
years. The trtttop -~nopy-i ns-pired design for this family-focused healing environment takes advantage o( an extraordinary parkland setting (figure 2). The evidence- and research-based design incorporates carbonreducing t«hnologirs and water capture methods to meet the strong sustainability targets set.
Figure 1. 11'18 new Royal Children's Hospital. opening in 2011. in tts parkland setting, aimS toe a 40% re<IUC1ion in catbOn emiSsions.
The subtly colored sunshades evoke the leaves of the parkland's eucalyptus to emulate a treetop canopy as they la)·er and wrap \mder the fa~ade . Visitors enter through columns that gi\'t.S the feeling of being among the trees. Once the new hospital is complete. much of the old hospital Par1<1and setting will be demolished and this Spread O\'tr more than 10 acres of area will be restored as parkparkland, a campus arrangement land, with a net gain in vegttafor the lle'\11' RCH has a managetion. Throughout construction able low-rise scale to present a many signific-ant trees have been friendlier, more welcoming apretained. pearance to a child. Nortl1-south orientation Translucent glazed panels reAect the park inside to patient In a part of the world whert six rooms on the J\Orth .side. while houn: of sunlight is a year-round on the western fa~ade more than daily averagt, the dt$ig•t 1nakes 1,000 glass .. lta\'es," each six feet the most of natural light. Orien· wide and three feet high, shade uuion was the key factor in deter· the building from the fierce mining the position ofelements westerly sun. within the master plan. 10
HEALJHCARE OESLGN 10.08
Central to the functioning of the hospital and to the sustain· ability of the design is a clever wayfinding device: the street (figure)), Based on the idea that CYen the smallt$t country town has its amenities grouped around a central street, this -allows visitOt$ and staff an intuitive unden:tanding of where they arc in the hospital In this model, a large building becomes a community ofbuildings-an institutional building becomts deins-titutionalised. and each of the parts acquire$ independent character. The street conctpt, which conn«ts tht campus, is extendable and adapt· able. It allows for futurt organic growth or extra •address points.. to be added along the s1ree1. The site has a natural, diagonal fall from cast to west, which
means the north-facing street created three levels of gardens around the buildings (figure 4). The entire north-facing wall of the street is glass -and provides a lovely vista onto the Grtat Garden Court, the largest ofthe sheltered gardens S\ltrounding the hospital. Louvrts high in the atrium allow natural \'Cntilation and a thermal labyrinth provides passive heating and cooling for the area. Me-lbourne's skyline and park arc visible along the str«t, this s.crves as a permanent marker for wayfinding -and is complemented by memorable inttrnal devices S\IC.h as a giant aquarium next to the reeeption de.sk. which helps direct people to the Emergency Department.
WWW,HlAt.lHCAI'IlOl&JGNMAGAZI"E,C-OM
Figure 2. VISitors enter tOO bUiding via a 路tteetoP canopy" created tlV more than 1.000 large leaves of StiiiM'Ierlng glass, wNch act as a sunshade fOf this western t~ade.
12
HEALTHCARE DEStGN 10.06
WWW. Hl41.'THCAAlOUIGMMAC4ZINI,C0M
Wahlrw!H Wattr con.servat ion i.s one o( the nlO.SI impor11tnt is.su« in a country sufferin.g fro m an epic drought. 1"hr hospital will minimizt its un of m;~ins water
in a number of ways: con.sump· tion will k ..-td.uctd, Wilttr will bo rteycl<d wh<r< po$1ibk, and it will be ba.nuttd on ·:&it~. W~ttt-d'&ttnl '~s,
ttps.and other fittings will bt
used. Metering with leak deltc.tion systems a1~d sophistic-ated reu~ strategies will •'«luce demand on mains water by more th;an 20%. Thm is no C'Vaponti~ cooling in the plan muhin& in reduction ln th< domand
or potabk wat<r for
Wll<r·bascd builchns coolinssystmu. Also 1 bladcwateT treatment
plant will rte)'Cic all appropriate WUIC'W<lter 10 nu.sh toik'I.S and water prdtns, among other ustS.
Rgurt 3. Orltnteel north anCI ftooded with daylight, the waytfndlng main S1teet haS a lhermallab)'rlnth 1nd nati.M'al ventilation.
C L EAN DESIG N AN D OPERATIO NS
-·-·----.............."%£
"''~"""' o•ooo~
%
0
C6
_ .. §=SeMoes·~
o--
<
Figure 4. Ortenting the street to tllO north, the most advantageous aspect for all·day sunlight, creates a range of ecological a!tvantages.
The plan is for rainwater from at least 75% of the roof area to be coJie<:ted. in storage tanks. The main building folds into its site creating a natural swale .-round the building, with r un-off water
harvested for reuse. In fact, the coJiection of nonpotable water for reuse in the gardens and parkland is expected to exceed the hospit;tl's nttds. There art plans to share this water with the community, notably Melbourne Zoo, a close neighbour.
A smaller carbon footprint The all-hours nature of a hospital's energy use can, by the incorporation of central energy sys1ems. optimize efficiencies for a dramatic reduction oft he carbon footprint. The strategy for lighting, h~ting. Jnd cooling at the RCH, will achiC\'C up to 40% carbon reducti011 as compared to a typical hospital. A trigeneration wstem will use
gas-fired engines to create elecuic· ity, a method up to seveulimes cleaner than the kxal coaJ.fir«l figure s. Eucalypts (A} co the site inSJ)ire bulldii'IO eJements (B) to form an eflYir'Onrnent designed to heal anc1 t1..m.re.. 14
HEALTHCARE OESIGH 10.08
WWW.Ht.ALTHCAAlOl$10NMA0A~IN I.¢0M
C L EAN DES I GN AND OPERATIONS
poWff station tnergy-heat is the
by-product. allowing it to br used in two ways. Firstly, ln conjunc,.. tion with absorption chiJJen to
in a purely cost· led co•nmerc-ial project.
Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne Project completion dale: December 2011 (Stage 1):
Family-focused healing
December 201!. (Stage 2J
Contract Form: Poblc Prrvate Partnersllrp (PPP) To be genuinely sustainable over Client: The Deoorlment G1 Human Setvices cooling systems., and secondly, for the long term, evidence· and Architecture: Bllard Leece and Bates Smar1 \'nltl HKS heating and hot wattr. reu-arch·bascd design suggests Solar panels on the roofwiU that a hospital has to balance low· Structural engineering: lrwsn COow!t also contr-ibute to hot water genServices and environment engineering: l~ormatt DISney aoel Young energy strategies and high patient eration with an estintated 40% of comfort initiatives. Quantuy surveyor and planning supervision: Bovis Lend lease the hot water used in ward areas Strongly salutogcnic, this Mnln contracting: BOV'IS lend Lease being cmted this way. A biomass des-ign addres.se.s the ph)•sical, Conslrucllon cost: AUD S960 million boiler, which uses waste wood psychological, emotional, and Project cost: AUO S1 b!!ll(ln (apprOJ(.) s()(ial aspects of a healing products (not purpost:-grown biofuel but genuine waste) is environment. interaction Ttle new RCH IS be1ng dei!>Jered as a Private Public Partll!lrsh!p by The planned and will help with heatwith the surrounding park is Children's Health Partnership comQnsing Babcock and Brown. Bovis ing, contributing up to a further maximized (figureS) and a Lelld lease. at1d Spo!Miss Bat~ Smart 1n ,oot \'l!fllure with Bt!lard Lei!ce 10% reduction in carbon emisrange offamily·focused indoor Partnership and U.S. ·based HKS PfOV'Mted aU architecture and des1on sions for the RCH. and outdoor spaces crcate an services For more tnletmatiOn viSit www refl 010 au The benefit of a PPP-procured imaginative, child-centred hospital build is that many environment-on a manageable ecologically sound long-term scale-for every age group. A with every detail designed for of organization that will $land the natural palette of texturt"S and test of time. The.se considerations solutions can be put into place optimum healing outcomes. that may not have b«n possible colol'$ brings the landscape inside In the quietest part ofthe are central to the environmental site, facing north for maximum sustain ability design strategy for sunlight, the inpatient unit the new RCH. ..The curing environment reaches into the park in long. ligh1-filled buildings. 01ildren should offer experiences oflife in ground· floor beds can look and hope. ln othe.r words there is Slntight into the garden a1td mort no difference between the curing than 80% of inpatient rooms have environment and the positive park views. Cle\'er placement of living environment in general," reflective surfaces bring views says architect Juhani Pallasmaa. MD i•tside. so that evtn children The new RCH Is being delivered as confined to a bed can see what•s create the cooled water uStd in the
happtning in the garden. The health of our environment and the health oflhe ptOple within it are inextricably linked and this proj«t takes a holistic approach to sustainabilityenvironmental, emotional, physical. and psychological. Sustainability can and should be thought about in broad terms, not only in terms of reducing energy consumption but nl$0 encompassing social responsibility and the creatio•t of well·considered. welcoming environments for people. There is no better way to make the new RCH sustainable than to devise a robust and resilient form
16
HEAIJHCAAE DESIGN 10.08
a Prtvate Public Partnership by The Children's Health Partnership com· prising Babcock and Brown, Bovis Lend Lease, and Spotless. Bates Smart In joint vent..e with Billard leeoe Partnership and U.S.·based HKS provided all architecture and design sentices. FGr more lnfonna· tion visit www.rch.org.au.
References BriW&SI Australia; The W\augural BankWtsl Quaity of Ufe lnclex,
August 2008. The Eoonomist EconomiSt ~liOO«O Uni1 Glc>ball Liveatliil,y ~ii"'Q$,
-2008.
WWW,HfAlTHCAII l0l$10N MAOAZJHC ,(:OM