Randwick Creative Ward

Abstract

Our proposal, the ‘Randwick Creative Ward’, seeks to develop an upcycled building and fit-out strategy for the sustainable and ‘meanwhile use’ of decanted hospital wards. Australia has an embodied carbon problem. Each square meter of new construction causes greenhouse gas emissions of around 500 – 1,000 kgCO2e. And with around 34 million square metres built per year in Australia, this represents a major contributor to our national emissions. We also have many vacant and under-utilised buildings at the end-of-lifecycle, now under threat of demolition and replacement. These represent a previous investment of millions of tonnes of material, labour, and carbon. While new building structures are a major contributor to embodied carbon, building elements that have shorter lifespans, and are regularly replaced – such as finishes, fit out and furniture – are also major contributors, so any strategy to tackle embodied carbon must consider both. Hospital campuses are a microcosm of these cha llenges, with their vacant and decanted spaces often becoming storage areas for expired medical infrastructure, equipment, and furniture. At the same time, Health & Innovation Precincts are emerging as sites that bring university knowledge and talent into Health. In doing so, they support research startups to evolve and shape future health industries. Co-locating MedTech and creative startups in redundant hospital spaces would further research innovations and support future collaborations between art, design, and health, thus strengthening the creative economy. Refreshing aging health infrastructure benefits staff, patients, and the broader community: an increase in creative and meanwhile studios in cities and neighbourhoods contributes to more activated, vibrant, and healthier environments for all. Our vision, the ‘Randwick Creative Ward’, proposes the re-use long-term vacant hospital spaces to accommodate community, creative and entrepreneurial functions that may change and ebb over time. Using biophilic and wellbeing design principles, the proposal involves re-cladding wards to improve their thermal performance and upcycling existing materials and medical infrastructure, to create inexpensive, simple, and flexible modular fit outs that can be inhabited in multiple ways whilst also reducing waste and embodied emissions. Our concept image shows the transformation of a typical hospital ward at the Randwick Health and Innovation Campus (RHIP) into a MedTech startup and creative studio, promoting social and cultural sustainability. Formerly long dark corridors servicing generic patient bed areas become a metaphoric communal street supporting adjacent light-filled studio spaces. Made of sustainable timber, newly built demountable workstations are located around internal and external windows, to improve thermal efficiencies whilst capitalising on views and daylighting. An inventory of redundant building materials and medical equipment provides the basis for creative repurposing: in our example, former bedside cabinets become bespoke studio tables, Xray light boxes showcase creative works, IV drip holders suspend bespoke neon lighting and expired timber furniture is re-fashioned to create snug workspaces