2016 National Architecture Awards: Commercial Architecture Commendation

Jury Citation

The patient is the true focus of this fine building. The design has been developed around the sequence of a patient’s movement through consultation, diagnosis, treatment and care. The building quietly accommodates this movement by drawing the patient through a variety of different spaces – each of them specifically suited to the patient’s care requirement via their light levels, their access to outlook and gardens and their proximity to treatment spaces. The building masterfully creates a warm and peaceful environment through minimal means. Small courtyards, use of natural materials, gentle manipulation of volume, understanding of scale and control of light levels have all contributed to this highly successful and intimate environment. The building’s external form is simple and refined, its forest of finely proportioned structural columns providing a filtered skin screening the tranquil interior environment from its unremarkable location behind Caloundra’s main street. The roof structure inverts the conventional roof truss, allowing the eaves to lift rather than fall – a confident but quiet gesture of welcome. This project is a wonderful example of an architect working closely with their client to develop an environment that is intricately suited to the client’s needs.

Read the project review by Leonie Matthews in Architecture Australia Sept/Oct 2016.