Peninsula University Hospital consolidates an existing low rise hospital into a 12-storey tower and podium. Relative was engaged by the PPP consortium led by Capella / Exemplar Health with Bates Smart and Architectus as project architects. We produced global benchmarks into health-led communal spaces which informed the design strategy across social spaces, hospitality and human scale ground plane interfaces welcoming public, patients, staff and visitors to take time out, eat and gather.

Design Strategy

Our work focused on design concepts for ground plane — from urban interfaces, to building edges and tenancy and materials guidance — we established a coherent spatial framework for active uses, public interfaces, retail architecture and social spaces. The intent was consistency without being static: a ground plane legible enough for people of all abilities, but varied enough to support the different elements of arrival, gathering, waiting, food on the go and respite that coexist within the hospital environment. A clear material language and infill architectural methodology was developed in collaboration with the design and engineering teams.

Design for Reuse

The design strategy sets up modular elements for tenancies to be reused over time - re-skinning repeated built elements instead of demolishing them. We enhanced the hospital's separation of public realm from clinical spaces to give the ground floor its own distinct identity. The result is a series of activated amenity built to evolve over time — as a considered layer in its own right, not a residual space between larger architectural spaces. Materials are envisioned as tactile, durable yet inviting, a series of urban living rooms in contrast to the context.