Work is set to commence on the $1 billion HDR-designed new Westmead central acute services building.

The announcement follows an extensive user group consultation process, in which clinicians, patients, families and community members were engaged in order to help finalise the design for the new hospital building, which, at 12-storeys high, will be the tallest medical facility in Australia.

“The user group process brought together the views of all of those people that will be involved with the new hospital building over its long life, to ensure we create an environment that supports their working and healing,” says David Ghannoum, regional managing director of Multiplex, the developer of the site.

“The new building will be built up rather than out and won’t follow the traditional large horizontal floorplate,” says Ghannoum, adding that, “For patients, this will mean faster transfer times, more natural light and better views from their rooms, aiding their experience and recovery.”

The new hospital building will provide a total of almost 96,000 square metres of space with a range of adult and paediatric services, including emergency, pharmacy, imaging, state-of-the-art operating suites and multiple in-patient units.

A helipad will be located on level 13 and underground car parking spaces will also be built as part of the project, while a series of bridge links will connect the new hospital building with the existing Westmead Hospital and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.

The new design also includes an outdoor plaza, equivalent in size to two football fields which will become the new front door to the precinct, while the office spaces within the building will be modelled on flexible workspace design and will feature quiet rooms and break-out spaces, similar to contemporary corporate office fit-outs.

The new hospital building is due to open in 2020.