Eastwood Private Hospital: Designing a Civic Landmark for Health

“Eastwood Private Hospital intends to admit 7,000 patients a year, and is very contemporary – more like a hotel than a hospital. We were impressed that a private hospital was built on time and within budget. Hopefully, it will help ease some of the pressure on Adelaide’s healthcare system.”

- ABC Radio Adelaide -

The Design journey

HSPC Health Architects approached the design of Eastwood Private Hospital with a focus on clarity, presence and calm. Located on Greenhill Road, the six-storey hospital was conceived as both a clinical facility and a civic landmark, offering a contemporary identity while responding sensitively to its urban and natural context.

Through early engagement with the state planning authority, the project found momentum in collaboration, streamlining pathways, fostering shared vision, and shaping an accelerated journey. The approved outcome garnered strong support while realising the site’s full development potential for Barwon Investment Partners and Fortius Hospitals.

Civic presence and urban interface

The ground plane becomes Eastwood’s threshold, softening the severity of Greenhill Road and giving the building a distinctive voice along the streetscape. Textured brickwork creates a monolithic sense of calm at the façade’s base, grounding the building and offering a tactile connection for visitors. A generous plaza fronts Greenhill Road, designed to promote activity and engagement. Landscaping and seating soften the public interface, making the hospital an active contributor to its urban edge rather than a retreating object.

Arrival is celebrated through a double height framed entrance, establishing a sense of welcome and legibility. Movement is further articulated by the expressed fire stair on the street frontage, a vertical gesture that highlights circulation and fosters inter tenancy connection for staff.

Façade expression and performance

The façade was developed as both an architectural and environmental response. A structural grid defines the pattern, offering rhythm and order while allowing flexibility in fenestration and internal health planning. Northern overhangs provide passive shading, protecting glazing and reducing reliance on mechanical systems. Positive and negative articulation at the building’s corners generate depth and create breakout spaces, adding texture and inhabitable thresholds for users.

Sustainability informed the detailing. Expressed mullions promote direct shading from the harsh north and west summer sun, while planting and vertical screens contribute to privacy and softening glare. These moves are not applied decoration but embedded strategies to enhance comfort, efficiency, long term adaptability and promoting patient/staff circadian rhythm.

Interior experience and connection to place

The design intent extended inward to prioritise light, legibility and patient centred calm. A colonnade gallery runs the length of the arrival sequence, connecting foyer, reception, café and drop off. Its proportions and rhythm draw inspiration from Adelaide’s historic Avenue of Elm Trees, located across the road at Carriageway Park Tuthangga. This salute reinterprets a civic memory into the hospital’s architecture.

Breakout terraces and protected outdoor areas provide spaces for reflection and social connection, reinforcing the hospital’s role as a workplace as much as a place of care. These landscapes give staff and visitors moments of reprieve, balancing the intensity of clinical environments with natural outlooks and open air.

Architecture of care

Through careful attention to façade expression, civic interface and interior clarity, HSPC Health Architects sought to create a building that feels calm, legible and connected to its place. The project demonstrates how contemporary health design can combine technical rigour with public generosity, contributing to both Adelaide’s healthcare system and its architectural landscape.