The Karratha Health Campus is a major hospital located in the city of Karratha, the mining capital of the Pilbara region in Western Australia.
Designed by Hassell and built by Multiplex, the Karratha Health Campus is a 13,000m² hospital development completed in September 2018. Serving the medical needs of the region, the new hospital includes 40 beds, a new surgical centre, an improved and expanded emergency department as well as a new maternity wing with delivery suites.
Equipped with a helipad to provide urgent medical care to patients in isolated locations, the hospital also offers expanded outpatient services, ensuring Karratha locals have access to the country’s best specialists without the added stress and costs of travelling to Perth and further.
The improved facilities also support smaller hospitals in Roebourne, Tom Price, Paraburdoo and Onslow.
The $207-million Karratha Health Campus is the biggest health project in regional Western Australia’s history. The hospital won the award for best public architecture at the 2019 Western Australia Awards.
WA Country Health Service involved the local Aboriginal communities and Elders in a consultation to ensure the design of the health campus and the surrounding landscaping was culturally appropriate.
“With the harsh climate of the Pilbara region, it was extremely important that the materials used on the Karratha Health Campus project were high performing,” pointed out Kingspan Insulation’s Technical Services Manager Killian Smith.
“The best way to achieve a thermally efficient building envelope is by opting to have a continuous, non-bridged, insulation layer,” continued Smith.
Kingspan Insulation offered a suite of insulation materials for various applications throughout the hospital building. The Karratha Health Campus project features Kooltherm K10 soffit boards underneath the concrete roof and concrete floor slab, as well as K18 insulated plasterboard in the steel framed walls.
A thermally efficient building envelope is an important requirement when it comes to healthcare and aged care buildings, as the building environment can have a major impact on the health and wellbeing of the occupants. Energy efficient buildings can maintain a more consistent internal temperature, preventing adverse health consequences that stem from fluctuating temperatures.
By using rigid phenolic Kingspan Kooltherm insulation, Karratha Health Campus was able to achieve high thermal efficiency and provide the best possible environment for its patients.
