ThomsonAdsett was commissioned by Queensland Health to update and revise the Bundaberg Hospital Health Service Plan and Master Plan, both developed in 2004. After the conclusion of this master planning project, ThomsonAdsett was engaged to provide architectural services for a $40m redevelopment of the hospital over a number of stages, including extension and refurbishment to the adjacent Mental Health Unit accommodation and administration facilities.

The redevelopment also includes an emergency, maternity and antenatal wing, an operating theatre pre-op and post-op refurbishment, an allied health and rehab facility (refurbishment of existing two-storey building), additional services facilities, plus refurbishment to the administration, admissions, imaging, pharmacy, medical records and medical ward departments.

The nature of the redevelopment necessitated significant intrusion into the existing hospital, as it required expansion and relocation of several significant operational areas. ThomsonAdsett developed several master planning design options for the new ED, which included assessment of:

• Functional adjacencies – maintaining optimal operational efficiencies and clinical workflows within the ED, and between ED and related departments such as Imaging and Theatres.
• Vehicular and pedestrian access – including access from the existing helipad. ThomsonAdsett investigated alternative locations for the new ED, and also investigated options for relocating the helipad.
• Construction staging – the new ED had to be built in a location which not only met the functional requirements above but also could be built while maintaining medical delivery operations in, and access to the existing ED.

ThomsonAdsett worked closely with the hospital user groups and the Managing Contractor to reduce the impact on hospital staff and patients as much as possible. Nevertheless, significant intrusive construction activity was still required. Of the many hospital projects completed by ThomsonAdsett, we consider this project one of the most challenging, but ultimately also one of the most successful in terms of value for money outcomes for the end users.