Mornington Centre

Lyons Architects set out from the beginning to test the conventional paradigm of a hospital.

In fact, the language used to describe the workings of this facility is more akin to that of a hotel than a health facility and the building itself, which is located close to the coastline, reads more like a big beach house or resort.

Through its spatial arrangements and normalising environment, it shifts form a medico-centric model of care to one where family and carers work with staff to deliver care to patients/residents.

The reception presents like a hotel concierge desk – friendly and helpful. Generous corridors open up to the outside bringing in natural ventilation and light. Travelling between the rooms and the therapy rooms, involves passing through the dining areas and interfacing with the rest of the hospital community.

Each room was designed as bedrooms rather than traditional ‘wards’. Each bedroom contains a bay window which provides a view to the landscape beyond. The repeating rhythm of these bay windows formally articulates the building along its lengths while working to control the heat from the summer sun.

The building takes the form of a large scale, folded pitched roof that encompasses the whole building, bringing together the spaces within.

The building appears ‘timber-like’ – clad in oversized ‘timber planks’ which are actually clay brick. The ‘planks’ are figured with a combination of smooth and rough ‘timber’ grain, the latter constructed out of conventional clay bricks embossed with a striated, digital design. The result is a façade that combines the durability and low maintenance of face brickwork with the texture of a typical Mornington beach house.

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