The Victorian Heart Hospital (VHH) by Conrad Gargett plus Wardle has been announced as the winner of The Health and Wellbeing Space at the 2023 INDE.Awards. The project located in Clayton, Victoria sets a new agenda for design that ensures that the wellness of patients and staff is central to function and form.

Creating a project such as VHH requires experience and knowledge and so it is fitting that partner to The Health and Wellbeing Space is partnered by CPD Live, a vehicle that provides insight and education for architects and designers.

Related: Catch up on the highlights at the INDE.Awards Gala 2023

The 2023 INDE.Awards jury recognises the gravitas of such a project as VHH designed by Conrad Gargett plus Wardle saying, “A complex project, the Victorian Heart Hospital showcases architecture that is simply best practice. Created for multiple end users, the design allows for flexibility, and offers excellent amenity through design that is thoughtful in every detail while also sensitive to its site and surrounds. This is an exemplary project in every aspect.”

As the first dedicated cardiac hospital in the southern hemisphere, VHH provides a plethora of world-class clinical cardiology services, research and education.

The impact of the design for the end users was integral to the project, in the understanding that this is a place that saves and changes lives. Ensuring a complete journey from admission to discharge, VHH was designed to better provide the healing requirements for users.

The project provides spaces that are clinical in function and non-clinical in their environment and there is a large central courtyard that becomes the ‘gravitational heart’ of VHH. Landscaping was integral to help support the clinical experience and flexibility is also key to the design, so that the building can adapt to future needs and evolve to support requirements of all users.

Congratulations to Conrad Gargett plus Wardle for an outstanding design that impacts lives for the better and supports health and wellbeing on every level.

Missed the INDE.Awards gala or just want to relive the highlights? Simply follow this link and sit back and enjoy the only regional celebration of architecture and design excellence. 

Scroll through the INDE.Awards Gala photo highlights here.

Photography
Peter Bennetts