Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects to Design Australia’s landmark Victorian Heart Hospital
Victorian Heart Hospital Architects Engage with Renowned American Architectural Author
Conrad Gargett and John Wardle Architects, in joint venture, announce that we have been commissioned to design and deliver the Victorian Heart Hospital located at Monash University in Clayton, Melbourne. The Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority appointed our team as part of their aspiration to deliver Australia’s first heart hospital and landmark integrated cardiovascular centre of excellence, a partnership between the Victorian Government, Monash University, Monash Health, (through MonashHeart, the specialist cardiology service provider of Monash Health).
The Victorian Heart Hospital will build on MonashHeart’s four platforms – excellence in cardiac patient care in cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery; innovative, translational research; world-class education and training; and robust cardiovascular healthcare policy development.
Rebecca Moore, Design Director – Health, stated, “Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects will be privileged to design and deliver Australia’s first dedicated heart hospital, the Victorian Heart Hospital. Through innovative design, this state-of-the-art environment has the potential to transform cardiovascular disease treatment and prevention by addressing MonashHeart’s four platforms and bringing the various occupants together in imaginative ways.”
Meaghan Dwyer, Project Director – Architecture, reinforced, “Focused on a robust design and delivery strategy, Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects will bring together best practice in healthcare design and an empathetic design approach. We will lead the highly experienced, skilled and creative team to deliver the Victorian Heart Hospital. We will apply experience, imagination and knowledge to design and deliver this ground-breaking facility.”
As part of the design process, and facilitated by the Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority, Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects together with the client group and stakeholders engaged with renowned American architectural author Sarah Williams Goldhagen. Ms Williams Goldhagen holds a PhD in Art and Architectural History from Columbia University in the City of New York, and taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design for over a decade. Also a renowned architectural critic, she has authored critical essays and a number of books about the built environment and modern architecture. Ms Williams Goldhagen is the author of ‘Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives’, in which she presents significant research findings in cognitive psychology and neuroscience relating to well-being and the built environment.
Ms Williams Goldhagen highlighted the ways in which the environments we build profoundly shape our feelings, memories and well-being, and advocates that we must harness this knowledge to construct a world better suited to human experience. Drawing upon current scientific research on cognition to demonstrate the centrality of design to well-being, she explained how people experience built environments and how they shape our lives. Ms Moore stated, “Victorian Heart Hospital has an aspiration for a whole of person, patient-focussed, integrated cardiovascular centre. It was of great benefit to engage with Sarah Williams Goldhagen, as her work reinforces the importance of design at all levels, and how the built environment shapes and influences our lives and well-being. Our intention is to apply this shared aspiration in the delivery of the Victorian Heart Hospital. We invest in continuous research in healthcare design, and focus on delivering evidence-based innovative facilities that support cultural change, visionary design and innovative healthcare delivery.”
Ms Dwyer confirmed, “Our design approach will integrate and synthesise the input of urban designers, architects, interior designers and landscape architects as we engage with our client and stakeholder group at all levels. Ms Williams Goldhagen’s work gives us the context to understand how the aspects of the built environment interact to impact on our sensory perception and heighten the experience of built environments in positive ways. Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects is wholeheartedly dedicated to bring the aspirational and honourable Victorian Heart Hospital vision to life.”
The hospital will be at the centre of Melbourne’s population growth corridor.
The Victorian Heart Hospital will feature at least 195 beds for cardiac patients from early childhood to old age, and will include:
- 112 public cardiac inpatient beds
- 72 private cardiac inpatient beds
- 20 cardiac intensive care beds
- 22 cardiac emergency department cubicles
- 30 consulting rooms
- 51 chairs for day procedures
- a new helipad
- 10 cardiac catheterisation laboratories
- four cardiac theatres and a sterilising unit
- an advanced cardiac imaging centre
- a heart rhythm centre
- a medi tourism facility
- links with Monash Medical Centre including pathology and pharmacy; and
- an entire floor dedicated to Monash University and the Monash Cardiovascular Research Centre.
When fully operational, the Victorian Heart Hospital will cater for:
- 2,000 cardiac surgery operations
- 3,000 cardiac rhythm laboratory procedures
- 6,000+ cardiac computed tomography CT scans
- 4,000 cardiac magnetic resonance imaging MRI scans
- 10,500 interventional cardiac catheterisation laboratory procedures
- 28,300 cardiac emergency department presentations
- 48,000 clinic / telemedicine consultations; and
- 60,000 consulting room consultations.
Construction of the Victorian Heart Hospital is due for completion in 2022.
Image: Ian Mitchell (Project Leader – Health, Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects), Meaghan Dwyer (Project Director – Architecture, Conrad Gargett | John Wardle Architects) and Anne Mennen (Director of Development, Victorian Heart Hospital, Melbourne)
For project updates, please visit: https://www.vhhsba.vic.gov.au/health-infrastructure/victorian-heart-hospital
For the Premier of Victoria’s funding announcement, please visit: https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/getting-it-done-building-the-victorian-heart-hospital/
For more information, please contact:
Nicole Hansson, Marketing and Communications Manager, Conrad Gargett nhansson@conradgargett.com.au
Justine Makin, Communications Co-ordinator, John Wardle Architects justine.makin@johnwardlearchitects.com
Rick Jordan, John Wardle Architects rick.jordan@johnwardlearchitects.com