Westmead reimagines healthcare for children

PROJECT FILES: Healthcare projects are often evaluated through measures of clinical performance, operational efficiency and technical complexity. Increasingly, however, major public health projects are also being asked to contribute to broader social, environmental and civic outcomes.

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead represents this shift. Delivered for Health Infrastructure and Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, the project forms part of the largest investment in paediatric healthcare in New South Wales in 25 years. Together with the new Sydney Children’s Hospital at Randwick and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre, it contributes to a broader vision for contemporary paediatric healthcare across the state.

Both hospitals share common ambitions around family-centred care, wellbeing and clinical excellence, connected through a shared healthcare strategy while responding to their own geographic, cultural and clinical contexts.

Westmead positioned architecture as more than a container for healthcare services. The project brings together highly specialised acute care facilities within an environment that integrates movement, play, family presence, landscape and community connection.

A hospital that begins with arrival

One of the biggest challenges was creating a clear identity and address within the highly complex Westmead health and education precinct. The site sits within a dense campus of existing buildings, infrastructure and clinical services, requiring the new development to connect with existing facilities while establishing its own presence.

Amongst the complexity of the site, the arrival sequence into the new hospital was conceived less as a functional requirement and more as a therapeutic experience.

Enter KidsPark: a landscaped civic forecourt that acts as both public space and hospital threshold. Children and families arrive through landscape, play and moments of discovery rather than a conventional institutional front door. This sequence continues through KidsWay corridor internally, an elevated circulation spine that connects the new building with the broader campus while transforming movement into experience.

These spaces are not just circulation routes. They are designed to reduce stress, support orientation and create opportunities for play and respite. Retail, gathering spaces, discovery zones and community-focused amenities were integrated into the project brief, recognising that healthcare experiences extend well beyond clinical treatment.

Designing from landscape

The design concept emerged from Westmead’s unique geographic context.

Located near the confluence of Parramatta River, Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek, the project draws inspiration from the movement, colour and ecological qualities of the river landscape. This narrative informed everything from the building’s facade to its interiors, wayfinding and public realm.

The tower façade uses a pattern and colour palette that abstracts the reflective qualities of water, creating a distinctive identity within the precinct while responding to changing light conditions throughout the day.

Inside, the river story becomes a tool for orientation and positive distraction. Curvilinear forms, layered colours and ecological references are embedded throughout the KidsWay corridor and the hospital interiors, helping children navigate the building through intuitive environmental cues rather than relying solely on signage.

This approach was reinforced through a connection with the Country process undertaken with Indigenous design practice Yerrabingin. Water, Country and children’s experiences are drivers of the design framework, helping create a healthcare environment that is culturally grounded and responsive to place.

Sustainability as long term resilience

Large healthcare facilities are among the most energy intensive building types, making sustainability both a design responsibility and an operational necessity.

The hospital was conceived as a high performance facility aligned with NSW Health Infrastructure’s sustainability framework and Australia’s commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. The project was designed to achieve approximately 19 per cent lower operational greenhouse gas emissions than National Construction Code baseline requirements.

Building floorplates were rationalised to improve efficiency and adaptability. Advanced facade optimisation and passive solar design strategies reduced energy demand while supporting occupant comfort. Whole-of-life carbon assessments informed structural and material decisions throughout the project.

Landscape also plays an important role in sustainability. The park provides valuable green infrastructure within the precinct, supporting biodiversity, community use, urban cooling and access to nature.

The project’s multistorey car park incorporates a rooftop solar installation capable of generating approximately 700 kilowatts of renewable energy. This powers 50 electric vehicle charging stations, with surplus energy contributing to the wider hospital campus.

Flexibility was another key sustainability consideration. Future inpatient units, imaging facilities and helipad infrastructure have been incorporated through warm shell and cold shell planning, allowing the hospital to adapt to evolving models of care without requiring major future redevelopment.

Clinical performance and emotional wellbeing

A common misconception about paediatric healthcare design is that child-friendly environments are somehow separate from clinical performance. In reality, the two are deeply connected. Research consistently demonstrates the benefits of natural light, access to nature, positive distraction and family-centred care environments in reducing stress and improving wellbeing outcomes.

At Westmead, inpatient units are organised into smaller neighbourhoods of twelve rooms. Patient rooms are designed more like bedrooms than traditional hospital wards, with dedicated family spaces, lounges and work areas that support longer stays and family participation in care.

Every patient room benefits from visual connections to the surrounding landscape, while waiting areas, circulation spaces and staff environments are similarly designed to maximise daylight and outlook.

Interactive play areas, family spaces and discovery zones are integrated throughout the hospital, ensuring moments of engagement and distraction are available throughout the patient journey.

These design moves support not only patients and families but also staff wellbeing, recognising that healthcare environments must work equally well for those delivering care every day.

A new model for children’s healthcare

The Children’s Hospital at Westmead is not simply a collection of clinical spaces. It is a civic place, a community destination and an environment designed around the realities of childhood and family life.

As Australia’s healthcare sector faces increasing demand, growing sustainability expectations and changing community needs, projects like Westmead demonstrate the value of integrating design thinking with clinical planning from the earliest stages.

As healthcare systems evolve, projects such as Westmead highlight the value of integrating clinical planning, sustainability and place-based design to create environments that support both immediate care needs and long-term community wellbeing.

---

---