The site on Port Road has been a hive of activity in recent months, with cranes, surveyors, and engineers steadily transforming a dusty expanse into something far more meaningful—a hospital designed around the needs of South Australia’s women and children. Now, the project has taken another key step forward, with a powerhouse consortium announced to lead the design of its main clinical building.
Four design firms—Billard Leece Partnership (BLP), Bates Smart, Grieve Gillett Architects and Taylor Cullity Lethlean (TCL)—have joined forces to shape the hospital’s structure, from the inside out. It’s a mix of national and South Australian minds, drawn together to imagine a hospital that’s technically robust, future-ready, and sensitive to the people who’ll use it every day. Bringing a combined portfolio of award-winning healthcare and public architecture, the design crew will be taking their cue not just from data, but from lived experience—of patients, families, clinicians, and community voices.
The hospital’s building services engineering will be handled by Aurecon, LUCID Consulting Engineers and BR+A Consulting Engineers, a trio known for creating flexible, sustainable infrastructure. The structural and civil design has been awarded to WGA and KBR, both South Australian firms, ensuring the technical brainpower and economic benefits of the build stay close to home.
All these moving parts are now being synchronised from a newly completed Central Design Office right on site. It’s more than just a desk-and-laptop setup—it’s a collaborative engine room for up to 140 workers from across disciplines. From here, architects and engineers will work closely with the Design Management Team to refine every corridor, ward, and public area of the hospital. They’ll also be responsible for Stage 2 works, such as connecting the precinct’s car park with Port Road and rounding out the remaining links in the area’s infrastructure.
Meanwhile, progress on Stage 1 is keeping pace. Multiple floors of the new hospital’s 1,300-space car park are expected to rise before the end of the year. That car park, while perhaps not the flashiest element of the project, is a cornerstone for day-to-day access and will relieve congestion around the site. It’s part of a broader $427 million foundation works package, which also includes deep infrastructure efforts by SA Water and teams laying telecommunications and utilities underground—everything from future-proofing data cables to ensuring uninterrupted water flow and waste management.
And then there’s Beau. Thirteen-year-old Beau Dienelt and his mum Michelle were recently among the first to visit the site of the future hospital. For Beau, who lives with cystic fibrosis and cerebral palsy, hospitals have always been part of life. He spent his first three months in hospital after being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at just six days old, followed by a cerebral palsy diagnosis before his first birthday.
What makes Beau’s visit so significant is that it’s more than ceremonial. Children like him are actively involved in shaping how the hospital will look and feel. Through focus groups, consultations and feedback sessions, their voices are helping to mould the hospital into a space that works for them. From the position of waiting room chairs to the placement of windows, details that might seem minor on a blueprint take on real weight when they’re seen through the eyes of someone who’s spent much of their life in hospital corridors.
That human input is critical, especially as South Australia’s health system continues to shoulder demand. Ambulance ramping remains a persistent challenge, with paramedics spending nearly 4,800 hours on the ramp in May—no worse than the same time last year, and still a notable 13.5 per cent improvement from July’s peak. Behind those numbers are improvements in how quickly ambulances respond: 72.3 per cent of Priority 1 callouts were reached within the target of eight minutes in May, a solid jump from 2022’s figure of 54.9 per cent. For Priority 2 cases, the difference is even sharper—60 per cent met the 16-minute goal last month, compared with just 34.8 per cent in May two years ago.
Elective surgeries, often the first to suffer when a system is under stress, have also seen an uptick. In May, metro hospitals completed over 4,100 surgeries—up nearly 14 per cent from April. But even with this progress, strain remains. Some 243 elderly patients have been cleared for discharge but are stuck in metro hospital beds, awaiting Federal Government aged care placements.
Which is why the forward push on the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital is so vital. The facility is designed to accommodate future surges in patient numbers, with 56 more overnight beds than the current site, taking the total to 414. It will also include more theatres, expanded emergency capacity and a rooftop helipad, making critical air transfers faster and safer.
Project leaders like Health Minister Chris Picton have emphasised the importance of creating a facility that goes beyond function, focusing on care delivery tailored to the long-term needs of women and children. “This project is all about ensuring we can continue to provide the very best care for the women and children of South Australia well into the future,” he said. “Careful consideration is being given not just to building one of the most contemporary hospitals in Australia, but to understanding the future needs of our patients.”
Judith Formston, Deputy Chief Executive of Corporate and Infrastructure at SA Health, echoed the importance of local relevance. The new WCH will be designed with its place in Adelaide BioMed City firmly in mind, with its external and internal configuration informed by cutting-edge practices and shaped by continuous staff and stakeholder engagement. Every decision is being run through the lens of local context—from how it integrates with existing healthcare infrastructure to how its design will enhance the experience for both clinicians and families.
Architects involved in the design have made it clear that this won’t be a sterile, copy-paste facility. Tracy Lord, BLP Principal and Project Director, emphasised the human-centred design principles underpinning their vision. “We like to design by creating environments that combine clinical excellence with human-centred spaces. We want to ensure the wellbeing of patients and their families, and our healthcare professionals and clinicians,” she said.
That philosophy will be critical over the next five to six years as the hospital edges towards its 2031 opening date. With the combined might of design and engineering expertise from across the country, the project is steadily building a space that meets tomorrow’s challenges without losing sight of the people who’ll fill its halls.
From civil engineers laying cables beneath the ground to teenage patients offering design feedback, this hospital is a blend of precision and empathy. It’s not simply a place to treat illness. It’s a construction of care—designed by the city, for its smallest citizens.
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🏥 SA's new Women's & Children's Hospital takes shape with top design consortium. 🏗️ 414 beds, rooftop helipad & patient-led input shaping the $427M project. 👶 Young patients like Beau (13) help design spaces for 2031 opening. #TheIndianSunhttps://t.co/0NpBLnMV1A
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