Brunswick Private Hospital

The building

Previously the old Vaucluse Hospital, the existing two storey aged care building has been upgraded to provide health care services to support a range of inpatient and outpatient services. The private hospital was acquired by Healthe Care Australia Pty Ltd in 2009 and upgraded with full accreditation by the Australian Council of Healthcare Australia. The redevelopment of the Brunswick Private Hospital accommodates 67 beds for rehabilitation and general medical services, physiotherapy, gymnasium, hydrotherapy pool, hyperbaric chamber, imaging, pathology and a new pharmacy.

The approach

Brunswick Private Hospital employs principles typical of a healthcare environment. From a fire and life safety perspectives, challenges and areas requiring key consideration include occupant profiles and likely patient characteristics. Complimentary to the occupant life safety design issues, similar philosophies found in health care facilities were also adopted to this facility which included fire and smoke compartmentation and mitigation measures to avoid the potential spread of fire between compartments. Suitable methods of protection were adopted to building elements which were identified and analysed as potential avenues of fire spread. The adoption of a fire detection and alarm system along with an existing automatic sprinkler system throughout enabled the construction and egress related analysis to conclude towards a satisfactory level of occupancy life safety during complete evacuation of the building.