Works are now underway on the La Trobe University Health Clinic on the Bundoora campus in Melbourne’s northeastern suburbs.

Woods Bagot is providing architectural and interior design services on what will be the largest interdisciplinary university clinic in Victoria, helping to train an additional 400 allied health professionals each year. Plenary Group is developing and financing the project as La Trobe’s development partner, with Kane Constructions appointed the contractor for the Bundoora campus. 

The Health Clinic follows the 2022 announcement of a $5 billion development plan to transform the 235-hectare Bundoora campus into a vibrant city that will include world-class sports, research and innovation, education, commercial, retail and residential developments.

The project forms part of a $170-million investment at Bundoora in health innovation, which will deliver educational, research, and infrastructure boosts to Australia’s healthcare workforce.

Woods Bagot Director and Global Leader for Education & Science Sarah Ball says the campus design has been informed by empathy, taking a people-centric approach to therapeutic facilities and teaching spaces.

“The clinic has been designed using a patient-centric lens to provide high-quality allied health services for community members,” says Ball. “The design will facilitate interaction between students and clinical educators from different disciplines to maximise opportunities for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary learning.”

The project includes the creation of multipurpose consultation rooms to facilitate the provision of student-led clinical services to the public under the supervision of clinical educators. The building will also feature specialist treatment rooms; shared, flexible office spaces; reception, amenity and support services; and specialist physiotherapy teaching spaces.

Woods Bagot Associate Principal and project leader Clare Connan adds that the project will be underpinned by principles of efficiency, sustainability, and biophilic design. “Imagined as a ‘campus of courtyards’, the new clinic responds to this predominant typology, creating moments of outdoor respite for building users and key sightlines to native vegetation from the internal spaces and assisting in navigation of the facility,” says Conan.  

“The mass and form of the clinic are designed for efficient, functional planning, but also consider the integration into the existing and future urban structures of the campus.”

Once operational, the facility will offer a broad range of allied health services, including orthotics, speech pathology, psychology, podiatry, dietetics, audiology, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy.

The clinic will also provide students with clinical placements, offering hands-on experience in a clinical setting before entering the workforce. This learning environment will provide seamless transition for students from theoretical teaching to pre-clinical/professional practice.

The Health Clinic is slated to open in mid-2026.

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