Dual-purpose emergency department: Cairns South Health Facility, Queensland

Following this event, the region’s health delivery capacity was reviewed, and funding committed for the development of an alternative site for critical and emergency care delivery during extreme weather events. This brief created an overarching challenge for the facility design: how to design additional, emergency healthcare redundancy yet avoid constructing new facilities that may rarely be used.

The Cairns South Health Facility is the only facility of its kind in Australia. The building is designed as a category 5 cyclone-rated, dual-purpose facility, operating in two modes of healthcare: ordinary and emergency. A key objective in the brief for the building was for all functional, clinical areas to be able to be utilised throughout the year.

Ordinary mode delivers community health, with the ability to run outpatient services. In the lead up to an extreme weather event, the facility converts into emergency mode, providing critical emergency care services, including an ED, an ICU, operating theatres, and dedicated birthing spaces.

Extensive stakeholder briefing was conducted, as the emergency mode took precedence for the design and compromise became inherent within the multi-functional design. The facility is fit for purpose and purpose-built – that purpose being dual functionality.

When faced with capital funding limitations, combined with the logistics of maintenance and service requirements, the dual-purpose functionality of the Cairns South Health Facility allows for an adaptive response. The building has become a great precedence for adaptability and responsiveness to climate change challenges.