A major new healthcare landmark has opened in Melbourne’s west, with the $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital positioning itself as a community-centred design project that integrates world-class treatment facilities with spaces that foster wellbeing and connection.

Designed by COX Architecture and Billard Leece Partnership (BLP) and built by Multiplex, “the People’s Hospital” as it’s affectionately called, is delivered through a public-private partnership led by the Plenary Health consortium in partnership with the Victorian Government, Western Health and Victoria University.

Community at the heart of the design

Designed as both a hospital and community hub, the new Footscray Hospital – located in one of Australia’s fastest growing regions – highlights how a world-class tertiary healthcare facility can support treatment, urban renewal, social connection, community resilience and long-term wellbeing, and be a catalyst for change within a broader health, education and research precinct.

Footscray_Hospital_Melbourne_COX_BLP_Peter_Bennetts (1).jpeg — *New Footscray Hospital, aerial view (Credit: Peter Bennetts)*

Extensive consultation with health workers, volunteers and community representatives during planning and procurement influenced both design decisions and precinct priorities, ensuring the new hospital reflected local needs for healthcare while supporting Footscray’s continued growth and revitalisation.

“By listening to the local community’s aspirations for the hospital, we have gone a long way to making sure the new precinct supports positive growth in Footscray, as well as acknowledging the importance of community-informed design in revitalising ‘the people’s hospital’,” says Kelvyn Lavelle, New Footscray Hospital Project Chair, Plenary Health.

Landscape as the civic heart of the precinct

Rather than a single building, the hospital is planned as a campus of five interconnected buildings arranged around a central village green. Designed by Tract, this landscape forms the civic heart of the precinct with gathering spaces, retail and food outlets, play areas and pedestrian pathways encouraging the larger community to visit even when they’re not patients.

“The landscape and urban design work together to create a green civic heart that centres the wellbeing of patients and staff, and invites the wider community in. This is a truly integrated healthcare design, with biodiverse native planting, generous courtyards and green roofs offering restorative visual and physical access to nature at all levels," Rob Copeland, Senior Principal Landscape Architect and Urban Designer at Tract, notes.

Footscray_Hospital_Melbourne_COX_BLP_Peter_Bennetts (5).jpeg — *Exterior view with bridge to Victoria University (Credit: Peter Bennetts)*

Buildings are scaled to align with the large precinct and massed to maximise daylight, comfort and protection from wind, supporting long-term environmental performance. A footbridge directly connects Victoria University (VU) to the VU Research and Teaching building at the new Footscray Hospital, reinforcing the hospital’s role within the broader health, learning and innovation precinct.

"Footscray Hospital is designed to be a hospital in and of its community. It’s about creating a place where people feel welcomed, connected, and supported – not just when they’re unwell, but as part of everyday life," says Patrick Ness, Director at COX Architecture.

Footscray_Hospital_Melbourne_COX_BLP_Peter_Bennetts (6).jpeg — *A generous internal “hospital street” oriented towards the village green (Credit: Peter Bennetts)*

Prioritising wellbeing and inclusion

The design focuses heavily on patient comfort, healing and recovery, recognising that long-term health outcomes are shaped by both environment and connection. Public waiting areas form part of an internal “hospital street” oriented towards the village green to help reduce stress and ease orientation. More than 20,000 square metres of outdoor spaces, terraces, courtyards and winter gardens allow patients, families and staff to connect with nature.

Cultural inclusivity is also central to the hospital’s design, which acknowledges the diverse communities of Melbourne’s west. Dedicated multi-faith areas and a First Nations courtyard – designed in collaboration with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elders – provide culturally safe spaces for reflection.

“The design places each patient and their support network at the heart of every decision, recognising the healing benefits of family and community involvement. The hospital invites and celebrates their participation, creating spaces that support not only treatment and recovery, but connection, comfort and dignity as essential to care and healing,” explains Mark Mitchell, Principal at Billard Leece Partnership.

Footscray_Hospital_Melbourne_COX_BLP_Peter_Bennetts (4).jpeg — *Interior view of bedroom, with large windows for visual connection to landscape and views (Credit: Peter Bennetts)*

Human-centred architecture

Architectural details reinforce the human-centred design approach with rounded forms, abundant daylight, natural materials and intuitive wayfinding introducing a warm and welcoming atmosphere. A sculptural timber ceiling runs through key public spaces creating volumetric connections between levels, drawing natural light deep into the building and transforming transitional spaces into places for pause and connection. Colour is used deliberately to support navigation, reducing reliance on signage and improving accessibility for diverse users.

"Every design decision was filtered through the lens of community connection and wellbeing. Social spaces, natural light, and access to green areas are as vital to healing as the clinical services the hospital provides," informs Paul Curry, Director at COX Architecture.

The ground plane experience is further enhanced with a prominent tapestry celebrating Indigenous culture in the clinical outpatients waiting space, offering a sense of belonging for patients, visitors and clinical staff.

Footscray_Hospital_Melbourne_COX_BLP_Peter_Bennetts (2).jpeg — The ‘Welcome to Country – now you see me: seeing the invisible’ tapestry is designed by Maree Clarke (Yorta Yorta/Wamba Wamba/Mutti Mutti/Boonwurrung) and Mitch Mahoney (Boonwurrung/Barkindji) and woven by the Australian Tapestry Workshop (Credit: Peter Bennetts)

Built for the future

Sustainability and adaptability underpin the hospital’s long-term performance: The project incorporates an 840kW rooftop solar array and targets a minimum 5 Star Green Star rating, while aspiring for 6 Star certification, with operational strategies focused on reducing energy use and improving indoor environmental quality. The hospital is also seeking WELL Gold certification, reinforcing the principle that buildings designed for longevity must be sustainable.

Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic informed flexible planning, allowing key departments to be able to quickly adapt during similar outbreaks in the future by separating paths and patient flows, repurposing accommodation and clinic clusters, and switching engineering systems to care for a greater number of infectious patients.

Footscray_Hospital_Melbourne_COX_BLP_Peter_Bennetts (3).jpeg — *Interior view of Emergency Department waiting areas (Credit: Peter Bennetts)*

As one of Victoria’s largest ever health infrastructure investments, the new Footscray Hospital will deliver advanced healthcare to the people of Melbourne’s west as well as the wider state. Beyond this core purpose, the hospital has been designed as a long-term social and civic destination that will serve the community for generations.

Main image: New Footscray Hospital exterior view from the village green (Credit: Peter Bennetts)

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