The Children’s Hospital at Westmead has officially opened its new Wattle Building, which the NSW Government describes as the biggest investment in paediatric health in the state for 25 years, to the public.

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Featuring a major expansion of surgical and intensive care facilities, the 14-storey Paediatric Services Building forms the centrepiece of the $659.1 million Stage 2 Redevelopment at the site.

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Designed by Billard Leece Partnership (BLP), an organisation responsible for six major paediatric hospitals across the Asia-Pacific region, the building includes a larger surgical inpatient unit, new surgical short stay unit, new operating theatres, and specialist cardiology and radiology labs.

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The building’s dedicated neonatal and paediatric intensive care units span two floors, and it also includes expanded cancer services, a statewide burns service, and expanded pharmacy and oncology pharmacy facilities.

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Beyond technical considerations and primacy of clinical outcomes, the finished building presents as an attempt by its designers to establish a new design language for paediatric healthcare.

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As says Tara Veldman, Principal and Managing Director, BLP puts it – “This is not simply a new hospital building. It is part of a wider rethinking of paediatric environments in NSW, where design is understood as a critical contributor to wellbeing, dignity, family connection and quality of care.”

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Set within the broader Westmead health and education precinct, the project introduces a new public face for the hospital through ‘KidsPark’, a landscaped forecourt conceived as both civic threshold and play space.

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Meanwhile at the entrance, which is known as ‘KidsWay’, the emphasis is on creating a more open and legible experience for children, families and the wider community. Rather than a front door, there is landscaping, opportunities for activity and distraction, and more.

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The natural surroundings inspired both the exterior and interior design strategies through their physical and ephemeral connections to landscape. The concept is grounded in the inland river landscape, with the interior strategy organised around the idea of the convergence of three waterways, Parramatta River, Toongabbie Creek and Darling Mills Creek.

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“At Westmead, the interiors are designed to reduce stress, support orientation and create moments of familiarity and delight without compromising clinical rigour,” says Rebecca Yeo, Principal and Interior Design Lead, BLP.

“The aim was to create a place that feels open, calm and connected to childhood, while still performing at the level required of a major tertiary hospital.”

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