Photo Credit: Tom Roe
Premier global construction company Multiplex has completed the ACT Government’s new emergency, surgical and critical healthcare building – the centrepiece of the Canberra Hospital Expansion.
Located at 77 Yamba Drive in Garran within the existing Canberra Hospital campus, the new Critical Services Building is the first fully-electric hospital building in Australia, and is the largest healthcare infrastructure project ever undertaken by the ACT Government to date.
The Canberra Hospital Expansion provides the growing Canberra community with a state-of-the-art medical facility to meet the region’s healthcare needs. Importantly, its completion increases capacity across Canberra Hospital’s surgical services.
The eight-storey Critical Services Building provides a total of 45,000 square metres of purpose-built healthcare space providing a home to many of the critical care services currently located across the existing Canberra Hospital campus. It includes:
- A new Emergency Department, with a dedicated children’s emergency area, expanded Fast Track and new Behavioural Assessment Unit.
- An expanded Intensive Care Unit.
- Perioperative services, including 22 operating theatres, which have been equipped with a range of advanced technologies.
- Extra treatment spaces, including an expanded coronary care unit and Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratories.
- Additional inpatient accommodation.
Photo Credit: Tom Roe
Designed by BVN in consultation with hospital staff and health care consumers to create an environment of healing and connection, the new facility is open and modern, with outdoor terraces and courtyards serving as family and visitor waiting areas, providing an elevated experience for all hospital users.
A key element of its design is its Welcome Hall, a public space connecting the new Critical Services Building with the existing campus and functioning as the Hospital’s new main reception. This engaging hub is an inclusive space that was designed in collaboration with the community and honours First Nations peoples with artwork by local Indigenous artists.
It also features outdoor intensive care space including two sheltered terraces that have been designed and equipped to support medical equipment, allowing patients and families to utilise the outdoor area while visiting and receiving care.
Driven by sustainability, the Canberra Hospital Expansion is a fully-electric building with a 5 Star Green Star design rating. Notable sustainability features of the industry-leading design include 21 massive heat pumps which have replaced traditional gas boilers to heat the building’s water, solar shading, and high performing façade glazing of thermally-broken double glazed units to minimise the cooling required in summer and heating required in winter. There is also energy efficient and intelligent heating, ventilation and cooling systems, a holistic Building Management and Control system which monitors and controls all systems in the building, and recycled water used for landscaping and irrigation.
Multiplex also minimised carbon throughout the build by using electrified cranes, locally sourcing a low-carbon concrete mix for the structure, and repurposing or salvaging 96 per cent of the materials during the demolition of the previous buildings.
David Ghannoum, Multiplex Regional Managing Director for NSW and the ACT, said that Multiplex was proud to deliver another important community infrastructure project to the Canberra region, having built the University of Canberra Hospital in 2017.
“We are delighted to hand over this world-class health facility that will cater to the growing needs of the local community. It truly embodies innovation and cutting-edge sustainability, drawing upon our expertise in the medical and healthcare sector,” Mr Ghannoum said.
The constrained site posed a challenge to construction – surrounded by existing hospital infrastructure, residential roads, and the private hospital and University buildings. Multiplex strategically managed the site, working hard to minimise impacts on the operation of the existing hospitals, the nearby Garran Primary School, and local residents.
According to Multiplex, construction of the Canberra Hospital Expansion spanned a three-year period with 4,000 people working on site and a combined total of 1.7 million hours of labour.
Significantly, more than 40 people were employed through Multiplex’s Connectivity Centre, a hub to provide employment, training and job support services for local job seekers and connect them with employment opportunities on-site.
Some 52,000 cubic metres of material was excavated on the site, with 145 building piles and 20,000 cubic metres of reinforced concrete used in the new building – along with seven kilometres of plant room ductwork.
Multiplex has strong credentials delivering hospitals and healthcare facilities across Australia and is currently completing more than $5b in health projects nationally. In NSW these include the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct in the Hunter Region and the Eurobodalla Regional Hospital on the NSW South Coast, and in Victoria, the new Footscray Hospital.
About Multiplex
Multiplex is a premier construction company with a simple purpose: to construct a better future. Established in Australia in 1962, Multiplex is known for shaping skylines and delivering iconic projects around the world. It has delivered more than 1,100 projects with a combined value in excess of US$100 billion.
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