Jury citation
With the Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre, Lyons has navigated the notoriously difficult St Kilda Road urban condition and achieved a highly successful formal resolution, working with Rush Wright Associates to deliver a spectacularly biodiverse, welcoming and serene entry forecourt, with exterior patient wellbeing and retreat spaces.
The hardworking floorplate traverses elaborate geometries and adapts with agility to a complex healthcare, wellbeing and research program. Moments of delight are carved through the form, connecting communities and injecting light to transform and uplift. Treatment spaces are cleverly designed to conceal clinical elements and feel more like a high-quality spa experience.
The all-electric facility deftly integrates abstracted layers of skin to frame views and improve thermal performance. It’s clear from the refined form and tectonic qualities that this was a collaborative effort between architecture and engineering teams, and is a new benchmark for sustainable healthcare facilities with patient wellbeing at their heart.
Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre is located in Melbourne, Victoria on Bunurong Country.
Project credits
Architect Lyons; Builder Kane Constructions; Landscape consultant Rush Wright Associates; Structural engineer, facade engineer and civil consultant Meinhardt Bonacci; Building surveyor Philip Chun; Traffic consultant One Mile Grid; Signage and wayfinding consultant ID Lab (now Humanics Collective); Independent laboratory peer reviewer Coulter Advisory; Land surveyor Madigan Surveying; Quantity surveyor Slattery; Town planner Urbis; Electrical, hydraulic and ESD consultant Watermans AHW; Mechanical, fire services and vertical transport engineer Watermans AHW; AV consultant UT Consulting; Principal consultant, design architect, health planner and interior designer Lyons.