RANDWICK, NSW – November 2025 – The new Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick building, designed by global
paediatric design experts Billard Leece Partnership (BLP) and incorporating Australia’s first Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre, has welcomed its first patients, marking a transformative step forward in children’s healthcare.
The state-of-the-art facility, developed in partnership with Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Children’s Cancer Institute, John Holland, Health Infrastructure and BLP, represents more than just a new hospital building – it’s a fundamental reimagining of how healing spaces and care journeys can transform children’s health outcomes. Innovative human-centred design, clinical excellence and cutting-edge research integration are no longer seen as competing priorities, they are complementary.
“Our goal has been to use our expertise and latest research in paediatric design to build a once-in-a-generation precinct that supports patients, their families, and the support networks around them,” says Tara Veldman, Managing Director, BLP. “We know children heal in hospitals that have been purpose-designed for them, especially when their full spectrum of needs, including clinical, emotional and social, are met.”
The new building at Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick, is also home to the new Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre, offering fully integrated clinical care and translational research laboratories positioned adjacent to each other – a first for Australia. This revolutionary ‘bench-to-bedside’ design enables seamless coordination between research and treatment, directly supporting the Zero Childhood Cancer program, which has already achieved a 70% success rate for children with the highest-risk cancers.
Designing A Home Away From Home
BLP’s design philosophy centres on creating familiar, nurturing environments that actively contribute to healing for children.
Drawing inspiration from the concepts of the ‘home’ and the ‘backyard’ supports the need and desire for normality during hospital stays. The new hospital features nature-filled social spaces where families gather to eat together, play together, visit with pets, and enjoy cafés – providing joyful distractions in a less clinical setting. Equally, spaces within the hospital have been designed to allow parents to work.
“From evidence-based research, we know the recovery process is intrinsically linked to minimising a child’s stress and anxiety, and by providing a ‘home away from home’, we create a necessary sense of normality in their lives. It is vital to support children emotionally by creating spaces that provide retreat, sanctuary, and trust, not only for the child but also their parents and siblings,” says Veldman.
Designed with children and families at the heart of every decision, the hospital was shaped through extensive consultation with more than 2,000 stakeholders, including patients, carers, clinicians and First Nations representatives.
Key design innovations include:
• Single-occupancy patient rooms – designed as ‘bedrooms not wards’ with desks and lounges in each room
• Multi-purpose family spaces with extended 24/7 access and a dedicated food delivery service window
• Interactive play areas and discovery zones that stimulate a child’s or young person’s imagination
• Biophilic design elements, incorporating natural light and green spaces accessible from every ward and laboratory
• Exposed research laboratories with glazed walls that demystify medical research for children and parents
A Transformative Healthcare Precinct
Located within the Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct, the facility connects seamlessly to Sydney’s light rail, creating an
activated, pedestrian-friendly environment that extends the public domain through the building. Utilising a permeable ground
plane with multiple entries ensures broader campus connectivity, via multiple landscape spaces.
Within the precinct, a new public plaza between the children’s hospital and the adjacent UNSW Health Translation Hub offers
landscaped places for people to engage actively and passively. These landscaped spaces, complemented by small food and
beverage retail tenancies, provide opportunities for visitors and the general public to socialise and connect.
The new facility stitches into a ‘whole of campus’ approach, with bridge links providing above ground access to the existing
Prince of Wales Hospital Acute Services Building and the recently completed UNSW Health Translation Hub building.
Interior design and wayfinding use colour, texture and envirographics inspired by Australian flora and fauna to support
intuitive navigation and a sense of calm. These elements form part of a broader curatorial approach that provides moments
of distraction, play and connection for paediatric patients.
The facility also includes dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander gathering spaces, culturally responsive wayfinding
in Dharawal language, and interactive features such as a multilingual Welcome to Country led by Bidjigal children. Artists
have contributed works ranging from large-scale installations to digital interactives and soundscapes – creating inclusive
experiences for children of all ages, abilities and cultural backgrounds.
“Designing a paediatric hospital is unlike designing any other healthcare facility – it demands a fundamentally different
mindset. Meaningful consultation with patients and their families has been central to shaping our approach. We recognise
that for children, healing is closely tied to play, imagination and distraction. Our design reflects this understanding,
addressing the distinct needs of patients from infancy through adolescence and supporting them at every stage of their
care journey,” says Rebecca Yeo, Principal & Interior Design Lead, BLP.
Sustainable Innovation and Technical Excellence for a Healthy Future
The project embraces environmental and social sustainability through a comprehensive approach addressing UN Sustainable
Development Goals. The facility’s ‘sustainability sandwich’ design strategically places laboratories between clinical floors,
enabling the facility to triple its workforce while only doubling space requirements, using activity-based planning.
Environmental initiatives include modular laboratory systems, operational waste reduction strategies, a dedicated circular
economy workshop for lab plastics recycling and 3D printing to minimise environmental impact.
“The future of sustainable laboratories is about reducing energy consumption, but also designing spaces that adapt to changing
research methods without requiring extensive renovation or replacement. It’s an exciting time to see these developments for
the future of our children’s health and their families,” says Bettina Bartos, Principal & Science and Technology Lead, BLP.
The Sydney Children’s Hospital and Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre represents a transformative place
of sanctuary, trust and playfulness, demonstrating that clinical excellence, integrated research and human-centred design
are complementary aspects of truly effective healthcare addressing the full spectrum of clinical, emotional, and social needs.
BLP has concurrently designed two tertiary paediatric hospital buildings in Greater Sydney – the new Sydney Children’s
Hospital, Randwick building and The Children’s Hospital at Westmead Stage 2 Redevelopment, representing the largest
investment in paediatric health care in NSW.
Key Additions – at a glance
• Sydney Children’s Hospital & Minderoo Children’s Comprehensive Cancer Centre integrating care and research
• Upgraded single-occupancy patient bedrooms with family amenities
• New 24/7 family spaces with food delivery access
• New interactive play and discovery zones
• Glazed research labs enhancing visibility and engagement
• Enhanced biophilic design with natural light, greenery, and outdoor terraces and balconies
• New landscaped public spaces with retail activation
• Enhanced connection within the Randwick Health & Innovation Precinct for ‘whole of campus’ approach
• New bridge links to POWH Main Acute Services Building and UNSW Health Translation Hub
• Sculptural C-shaped form enclosing a central courtyard & public plaza
• New balcony and terrace gardens with BBQs, pergolas, and native planting
• New pet park
• ESG principles addressing UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)
Project Overview
Clinical Opening: November 2025
Client: Health Infrastructure + Sydney Children’s Hospital Network
Project type: Paediatric Hospital + Comprehensive Children’s Cancer Centre
Size (GFA): 36,072 m²
Location: Randwick, NSW
Design Team
Architecture & Design team: Billard Leece Partnership (BLP)
Landscape architect: Aspect Studio
Builder: John Holland Group
Structural and civil engineer: Meinhardt Bonnaci
Mech engineer: LCI
Elec engineer: JHA
Hydraulic & Traffic: ARUP
Acoustic: Pulse Acoustic
Wayfinding + Environmental Graphics: Frost*Collective
Photographer: Tom Roe
