June 20, 2016

Due to open in early 2017, the impressive 230-bed dedicated children’s hospital will be co-located next to Monash Medical Centre, and will offer 96 In-patient acute beds, 10 Paediatric Intensive care beds, 64 Monash Newborn cots and many other services.

Appointed by managing contractor Lendlease Building, A.G. Coombs is delivering building services on the project, including HVAC and mechanical services, comprising the Building Management and Controls System, and specialist medical systems including pneumatic tube transport system and medical gasses.

A.G. Coombs’ design input, during the Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) design stage, included value-add initiatives such as rationalisation on zoning and number of chill beams, rationalisation on chilled and heating water thermal plant equipment types and sizing, and rationalisation on AHU zoning and multizone and single zone units. These initiatives, amongst others, resulted in a saving of approximately $2.5 million and helped with identifying effective solutions to this and other challenges.

Additionally, the team’s leading prefabrication methodologies were applied during construction, including the installation of eight vertical services risers in 16 large components; reducing risk, saving time and improving on-site safety. And Trimble positioning technology was used for the floor set-outs of services supports to ensure accuracy and a significant reduction in the need for drilling overhead into the slab soffit. A.G. Coombs is also upgrading the medical gas infrastructure, and connecting to the existing Monash Medical Centre building.

Commissioning has commenced on some systems to help ensure optimal operational performance from day one, when the hospital opens early next year.

Andrew Miller, Services Manager for Lendlease said “The new Monash Children’s Hospital promises to be an outstanding new hospital for Victoria. We are very happy with the project’s progress to date, and are pleased with A.G. Coombs’ expertise and professionalism in delivering this new heathcare facility. Their experience on similar projects makes them a reliable and trusted partner in building this world-class facility.”

For more information on this project, view the Monash Children’s Hospital case study.