Victorian Heart Hospital wins international design award
The Victorian Heart Hospital - Australia's first dedicated cardiac hospital - has been named the winner of the 2023 INDE.Award for the best creative design in the Health and Wellbeing Space category.
Located on Clayton campus and opened in February this year, the Victorian Heart Hospital is the latest addition to the Monash Health group of hospitals and was delivered in partnership with Monash University, home to the Monash Victorian Heart Institute.
The hospital integrates clinical cardiology services, research and education under one roof to create a centre of excellence.
As per the INDE.Awards, “The architecture, interiors, facility and clinical planning consider the impact of the built environment on the health and wellness of users and was guided by strong clinical and patient voices. This is a valuable place within the university campus and wider community with its capacity to save and change lives.”
“A complete journey has been embedded into the VHH, from admission to discharge. The design contributes to the wellbeing of all and aids patient recovery through its spatial qualities, amenity and materiality. The design provides spaces clinical in function and non-clinical in environment. Landscaping within a health and wellness setting has well-established clinical benefits. To sustain and extend the human experience of the VHH, the building has a large central courtyard – the ‘gravitational heart’ – maximising opportunities for engagement with the outdoors and surrounding landscape.”
“Future flexibility was a key – both in relation to space planning and the incorporation of building services and structural systems that are adaptable to future emerging clinical care technologies, fluctuating patient needs, evolving healthcare regulations, and sustainability.”
The Victorian Heart Hospital is a joint venture design by Australian architecture and design practice Conrad Gargett and architecture studio Wardle Australia.
Design is also forefront at facilitating the osmosis of research, education and clinical care as noted by Wardle studio, “Strong vertical linkages between research and clinical levels encourage the cross fertilisation between Monash Health and its own research programs with Monash University. The use of warm, timber materials and plenty of natural light aim to create a welcoming healing environment dissimilar to the traditional sterile environment of hospitals.”
The INDE.Awards celebrate the best and most creative design work of the year across the Indo Pacific region, as judged by the creative industry.