Western Australia’s newest healthcare precinct – Murdoch Knowledge Health Precinct – is approaching health and wellness differently.
With Hassell leading the architecture, interior design, and landscape masterplan, “it will be a hub of activity with people at its heart, connecting public spaces with state-of-the-art buildings designed for making people better, quicker,” according to a statement.
Murdoch Knowledge Health Precinct is a complete wellness community dedicated to treatment, mental health, education, aged care, and all aspects of enhancing livelihoods.
With ambitions to decrease traffic and lift the pressure on local primary hospitals, it will feature Western Australia’s first ‘Medi-Hotel’, designed to accommodate patients and their transition from treatment to recovery.
The ground-breaking Medi-Hotel will be equipped with medical imaging, pathology facilities, a GP super-clinic, and 60 patient rooms.
A focus for the precinct is the state-of-the-art mental health building with over 40 single patient rooms. The precinct design also incorporates over 175 aged care beds and extensive recreational facilities.
There’s an adjacent café, bars, a restaurant and a supermarket to create a local community, encouraging regular incidental socialising for people who may otherwise be isolated.
The number of uses delivered in one integrated precinct is what makes Murdoch Knowledge Health Precinct truly unique.
In addition to the 8,000sqm of medical suites, there’s a commercial office building designed for a variety of working types, and a hotel and residential apartment building with a section designed to NDIS Speciality Disability Accommodation standards.
Taking cues from other health precincts in the Hassell portfolio - like Herston Quarter and Fiona Stanley Hospital – the design harnesses public space where Murdoch residents and the general public can connect and enjoy the specifically designed wellness landscape.
Sustainability has also been at the forefront of the design process, with a whole-of-precinct approach to energy efficiency and environmental response.
The project is set to achieve a 5-star green-star rating and incorporates a wide range of sustainability measures including energy efficient systems, solar power, sustainable transport, and waste management.
Hassell Principal and design leader, Peter Dean, says the team was looking forward to working with master developer Fini Group on the project to deliver a truly world class health precinct become a reality over the next couple of years.
“It’s particularly exciting to be involved in the creation of Western Australia’s first Medi-Hotel that we hope will set a new benchmark in health and wellness,” Peter says.
Hassell principal Jeff Menkens, said that the precinct will be welcomed by patients, staff and locals in the area.
“Everything has been designed deliberately to complement each other. This will be more like a wellness community, where patients, staff, and locals will genuinely feel a positive difference by simply being there every day,” Jeff says.
