New Town Medical Centre Incorporating Tasman Private Hospital

In 2016, Swanbury Penglase was engaged to realise the vision for a new Private Hospital in Tasmania for the Fromnex Group, an investment partnership involving Nexus Hospitals, Australia’s leading network of private day and short stay hospitals.

The site is complex with an unusual shape, ten meters of fall across it, extensive imported contaminated fill and residential properties bordering the site on two sides. The site has commanding views on its western side of Mount Wellington and the Lenah Valley.

The new development consists of:

• A new private hospital including 7 operating theatres.
• An integrated sub-acute overnight stay hospital comprising 26 ward beds.
• Hospital support functions including recovery, CSSD, loading dock facilities, delivery and waste management and ambulance access.
• Two levels of basement car-parking including 229 carparks.
• Tenancy space including provision for a café, GP clinic, specialist consulting suites and pathology and radiology services.

The project has had a number of planning challenges:

• The majority of adjacent residential properties are sited below the new Hospital and the control of visual impact, overshadowing and overlooking has had to be balanced with access to the striking views the site offers.
• The challenging site levels have required careful design thinking to ensure access can be provided for the range of vehicles requiring access to the facility.
• The existing fill on the site is contaminated which has required extensive testing and analysis to determine its extent and impact on the design of the building.
• Operational restrictions around noise have also needed to be considered in planning the site and materiality while limiting impact on adjoining residences.

A Planning Application has been lodged with Hobart City Council and Approval is anticipated in early 2021. Construction is due to be completed at the end of 2022.