Bringing functionality, through exceptional form, EBD Architects has transformed an ageing community medical centre into an exemplary modern facility and showcases great design. In designing the new Eaglehawk Community Medical Centre, EBD Architects founder and lead on the project, Dr Darragh O’Brien, faced challenges to create new from old.

As an adaptive reuse project for client Bendigo Community Health Services, the main structural elements were retained and renovated, while the interior was reformulated to accommodate the existing primary care and allied health services. However, the brief also required the addition of amenities for services like sexual health and group-based mental health activities, opportunities for community engagement and preventive health education.

While the original building had outlived its use and purpose, to include all these amenities and services on a fixed floorplate was a tall order but O’Brien and his team have delivered over and above expectations.

There were many aspects to consider when designing this project – for example, the safety of staff and the public, designing in flexibility wherever possible and creating an identity for the new facility that would sit well in the community. However, primarily, the focus of the design was to create a calm and calming environment that would accommodate everyone – whatever their requirements or conditions.

The 1,045-square-metre centre provides a multitude of services for the Eaglehawk community and the list of amenities is impressive. The facility comprises, 11 rooms for general practice consultation, two each for mental health consultations and treatments, a pathology and a quiet room and an exercise physiology room. There is also a community hub, staff kitchen and dining area, private offices, meeting rooms, agile work points as well as two external courtyards.

To achieve all this the design team has worked hard to ensure that every millimetre of space is utilised to optimal advantage. Flexibility and adaptability are key, and spaces such as the reception and lobby, can be used for large after-hours gatherings when required. North-facing courtyards become an adjunct to the interior, with fitness classes conducted outside, and there is easy access between indoors and outdoors.

The main circulation area is around the perimeter of the floor and certain areas can be closed off for privacy. The main waiting area runs the length of the building with rooms off this central spine. There is an abundance of natural light with internal skylights strategically placed in the ceilings and, in some cases, their form even resembles a James Turrell installation.

Materials used are integral to the sustainability credentials of the project with Linoleum, carpet tiles, acoustic panels and timber. Meanwhile, the colour palette is minimal, featuring white with blue grey flooring alongside pops of light blue and chartreuse in soft furnishings that lift the ambience.

However, the main architectural feature of the Eaglehawk Community Medical Centre is its sensational façade. Attached to columns that are set back from the main building (to support air flow and aid light penetration) the perforated powder coated, marine grade aluminium allows transparency but also provides privacy.

“The new façade peels away from the original building form, and we’re using that intermediate space to create a series of courtyards. One is a light well next to the community centre and then the other is an accessible courtyard for mental health and for the Exercise Physiology and the Occupational Therapy. Those activities are partially visible from the street but partially obscured as well by the façade,” explains O’Brien.

This curved exterior curtain makes quite a design statement and cements the centre’s place in the urban landscape. While the new façade was originally intended for a second stage of works – with the help of the Regional Health Infrastructure Fund and effective cost management by EBD – the façade became a possibility, and the end result is outstanding.

To ensure all aspects of the new plan of the centre were in keeping with the expectations of multiple stakeholders, EBD participated in lengthy discussions with the community, staff and government and conceived a design that provides more resources for those who use the facility.

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“I think, the ultimate aim of the practice is to clearly identify what people want and what they need and then our response is to interpret that data,” continues O’Brien. “It’s still a speculative act, but it’s based on benchmark research as well as some really detailed stakeholder engagement. The term ‘co-design’ gets bandied around a lot, but we’ve been developing our engagement methods for decades now, and that process genuinely brings up design opportunities.”

Another element to the success of this project is in the name of O’Brien’s architecture practice, EBD, which stands for Evidence Based Design. Throughout the architect’s career he has embraced the ideas of EBD and the Eaglehawk Community Medical Centre is proof perfect of this specific type of co-design.

As O’Brien explains, “the aim is really to understand that no matter who you are or where you’re from, everyone deserves good architecture that actually meets their needs and inspires them. It says to them that they are valued and that what they’re doing is valued.”

The centre has used the bones of the original building to make something else entirely. Now the Eaglehawk Community Medical Centre is a place that is welcoming and a space that is calm and safe. Through expert architecture, material selection, thoughtful spatial design, quiet zones and even in the selection of colours, the design of this centre helps augment the delivery of medical expertise and does it with great style and finesse.

EBD
ebdpl.com

Photography
Elizabeth Schiavello