A place of rest, not a place of treatment.
The SHE Cancer Wellness Centre is not a hospital. It is its antithesis. Based on the Maggie's Centre model, the facility is designed to give people affected by cancer somewhere to turn at one of the most difficult times in their lives - a place that is comfortable, warm, accessible and focused on the person rather than the disease.
Located at 31-35 Campbell Street, in close proximity to the Royal Hobart Hospital, the centre will house ground-floor wellness and communal spaces, an allied health level with consulting services, and 11 self-contained apartments for those travelling to Hobart for treatment. The site includes the post-1904 Theatre Royal Hotel building, whose unpainted brick facade sits alongside the historic sandstone wall of the Theatre Royal. Existing brick and sandstone walls to the rear have been retained and made a feature of the external spaces, grounding the new work in the texture and history of the site.
Shelter, not institution.
Three principles guided the design. The first is that the building should feel nothing like a clinical environment - natural materials, quiet spaces, soft furnishings and non-hierarchical planning replace the corridors and waiting rooms of medical settings. The second is that the centre should offer genuine shelter - a connection to nature, sky and light, with homely cues like bookshelves, a fireplace and spaces that are calm and private. The third is that it should be a conduit to community - a place where people can gather, connect with one another, access support and education, and feel a sense of autonomy over the space around them.
The communal heart of the building is its most important room. Everything else is arranged around it.
