Design For Patient Recovery at “Homes in the Park”
The rehabilitation unit was built for the Woy Woy Hospital situated on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. A new insertion into the existing health services complex, the project is an extension to the hospital’s clinical program and accommodates patients requiring interdisciplinary restorative care following a range of injuries, surgery or illness.
Talk to Edwina Bennett about Health
“Homes in the park” was a central theme in the design. The intention was to create a healing environment through the provision of generous solar access and landscaped, therapeutic outdoor courtyards. Towards the back of the facility, the scale of the building is broken down to a series of pavilion-like buildings on a residential scale.
Featuring an origami-inspired, triangulated roof at the entrance and distinctive use of brick and timber details throughout, the design helps to create a residential feel for the exteriors. Meanwhile, gardens extend the patients’ spatial journey into the existing groves of eucalypts and native grasses surrounding the site. The roof brings light into the scheme, encouraging solar access to reach internal corridors, while the colour of the bricks, shifting from deep blue to grey and dark brown, is inspired by the Aboriginal meaning of Woy Woy:
“Woy woy” translates from the Guringai language as “much water” or “big lagoon.”
Adelaide, Australia
Chengdu, China
Xi’an, China
Shanghai, China
Zhengzhou, China