Jury citation:
Bendigo Hospital delivers world-class healthcare facilities in a landscape designed around ideas of connection and kindness. The thirteen-hectare project includes a network of forty-six diverse landscapes, connected by streets and walkways that engage with the broader city, hospital and topography. The jury was won over by the consideration shown to the Indigenous community. The design team worked in partnership with the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation to create employment opportunities and ensure the region’s cultural heritage was recognized through the co-design of an Aboriginal courtyard and garden. The project acknowledges the delicate regional ecology through rainwater harvesting and re-use, water-sensitive urban design and significant increases in biodiversity, habitat and urban forest, while also delivering landscapes that provide relief, distraction, choice, support and recovery. Restorative and nurturing, Bendigo Hospital demonstrates the healing qualities landscape offers to patients, staff and visitors and sets a new benchmark for healthcare environments in Australia.
Location: Bendigo (VIC)
Aboriginal Nation: Dja Dja Wurrung
