Every hour, minute and second, hospitals house joy, grief, relief, pain, celebration, confusion, exhaustion, elation, and myriad more. Regularly, hospitals host a spectrum of emotions that other buildings do not – best days and worst days happen with just a wall between them.  

As such, both the “on stage” public areas and “off stage” patient areas of hospitals need to be designed with diverse thinking.

This is our promise:

1.

We will be innovative.

We promise to challenge expectations for the better. Woods Bagot believes that hospitals are mixed-used typologies, and we’re here to agitate a new outcome that sees through your vision. We will draw on our experience designing workplaces, hotels, retail spaces and homes, to produce the hospital of the future – an integrated campus where elements are seamlessly connected and focused on care.

We will ensure your buildings are agile, adaptable and relevant.

2.

We will provide diverse perspectives.

Designing buildings in the Health sector is a delicate business that calls for layered sensitivities which, in turn, require diverse backgrounds. Our teams have the experience – as carers, parents, consumers, patients and professionals from a variety of different walks of life – to create spaces that respond and care.

We promise that our teams will have the sensitivity and drive to draw on their diverse perspectives to create outcomes that work to provide safe and welcoming spaces for the kaleidoscope of emotions, cultures and encounters that occur in hospitals every day. We promise to fight for and champion solutions that suit the traditions and needs of all backgrounds.

We will approach from all angles.

We will consider the backgrounds of all users.

We will be sensitive and strong.

Our designs will be legible, regardless of culture; welcoming, regardless of language; and inclusive, regardless of background.

3.

We commit to empathy and inclusion.

We will make space for space.

As people-centric designers, we want you to feel safe and in control in the buildings we design. We know that things that seem simple – like room for thank you cards, connection to nature, beauty, separate spaces for employees, smooth flow of movement and the ability for families to eat together– make all the difference and we know how to make them happen. We also understand the almost-unfair scale of medical equipment next to cots and know about white wall fatigue – we can fix those too.

We will seek to understand what makes your community, employees and patients unique, and use this insight to create a building they need, want and like.

We will leave no one behind.

4.

From design to delivery, we will be consistent.

We will be there with you across the duration of your project, so there is no risk of your vision being lost in translation as words evolve into built form.  From top down to bottom up, inside to outside and start to finish, we are with you along the whole journey.

Our project teams are backed by a powerhouse of support from across the globe – able to access an inimitable network of expertise, insight and passion.

As a multi-studio, cross-disciplinary organisation, we have the experience to support you every step of the way.

Georgia Singleton, Director

An extensively experienced architect with an empathetic approach to public buildings, Georgia has designed large hospitals and an array of education, science and health campuses – most recently leading the Footscray Hospital PPP.

Aware that public buildings have the power to teach people to change for the better, Georgia is a skilled curator who carefully orchestrates the wide array of design specialists who are required when designing a hospital – stepping in with an overarching vision that considers the various journeys taken through both architecture and interior by staff and visitors daily.

“When I design hospitals precincts my aim to design a space around the hospital which keep people out of hospital. It’s about wellness and joy and family and empathy.”

Edwina Bennett, Associate Principal

Edwina is a key leader in Woods Bagot’s Health sector and well known for her ability to create and lead cohesive teams driven by a common goal. Edwina communicates with unparralelled clarity and empathy for all – from stakeholders to community leaders, doctors to builders and community representatives to clients – she knows how to deliver the hospital of the future.

“Health and wellness precincts require more than just hospitals to heal. The future is about innovation and amenity in the form of mixed-use health spaces that serve patients, carers and their families.”

Tershia Habbitts, Senior Associate

Tershia has extensive experience in shaping healthcare environments with a focus on mental health and aged care, she deeply believes in creating ‘Architecture that Cares’.

“The shift in healthcare design from clinical designs to the creation of more human centric and nurturing environments is creating architecture which positively touches people’s lives at their most vulnerable times.”

Bronwyn McColl, Principal

Bronwyn is a designer who understands that conventional approaches to design have given way to more inspired, cross-sector designs driven by user experience and a desire for wellness, collaboration and care.

“Growing up with nurses in my family, I understood one aspect of hospitals really well. Through my life I have come to learn other aspects, with my first project in Woods Bagot being a hospital project.

“My drive to contribute to making the world a better place through everyday experiences, is the reason I decided to become a designer. I am passionate about understanding how the built environment can support people to create more engaging and meaningful lives. Through cross sector experience, I love being able to draw on this knowledge to contribute to projects to create better outcomes. Making the world a better place one project at a time.”