ACT Government Officially Opens Landmark $650 Million All-Electric Critical Services Building at Canberra Hospital

Nation-Leading Milestone for Australian Healthcare and Decarbonization

CANBERRA, Australian Capital Territory — In the most significant civil health infrastructure expansion in the nation’s capital history, the ACT Government and Canberra Health Services have officially commenced clinical operations within the landmark $650 million Critical Services Building (Building 5) at the Canberra Hospital campus in Garran. Spanning 44,000 square metres across nine monumental levels, the facility stands as Australia's very first all-electric, 100 percent renewable-energy-powered public hospital building.

Delivered by construction partner Multiplex alongside leading healthcare planners, Building 5 centralizes acute, emergency, and surgical critical care services into a single resilient architectural hub. Designed to future-proof healthcare for Canberra and the broader surrounding southern New South Wales region of over 600,000 residents, the hospital provides world-class clinical amenities tailored to meet expanding demographic needs.

Expanded Emergency Department and Dedicated Pediatric Zone

The facility introduces a dramatically enlarged, patient-centred Emergency Department (ED) accessed via a dedicated street-level forecourt off Hospital Road:

• Expanded Treatment Capacity: Triples the clinical footprint of the former emergency facility, incorporating flexible triage pods and fast-track treatment areas.
• Dedicated Children's Emergency Department: A state-of-the-art pediatric unit equipped with child-friendly examination rooms, calming sensory therapy spaces, and a secure outdoor play sanctuary.
• 22 Advanced Digital Operating Theatres: Features hybrid surgical suites integrated with intraoperative imaging robotics, laparoscopic camera systems, and day-surgery recovery lounges.
• 60-Bed Intensive Care Unit (ICU): Situated on Level 5, the high-acuity unit features individual patient suites and groundbreaking exterior medical terraces allowing bed-bound intensive care patients safe exposure to fresh air and natural daylight.
• Cardiac Catheterisation & Acute Inpatient Wards: Purpose-built acute cardiac care units, interventional radiology labs, comprehensive medical imaging suites, and 156 high-acuity inpatient beds.

Groundbreaking All-Electric Hospital Engineering

Setting a global benchmark for sustainable hospital architecture, Building 5 completely eliminates reliance on fossil gas infrastructure. Space heating, air ventilation, domestic hot water, and sterilization steam are powered entirely by high-efficiency heat pumps and high-voltage electrical boilers tied directly to the ACT’s 100 percent renewable electricity supply network.

The design achieves substantial reductions in operational carbon emissions, incorporates double-glazed thermal curtain walls, harvesting systems for non-potable rainwater recycling, and a dedicated rooftop helideck delivering frictionless, seconds-count transit directly into trauma resuscitation suites.

Transformative Regional Care and Clinical Excellence

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith affirmed that the commissioning of Building 5 represents a transformative leap in clinical excellence and emergency preparedness. By uniting world-leading clinical technology with therapeutic natural lighting, biophilic indoor finishes, and quiet rest spaces for medical personnel, the Critical Services Building cements Canberra Hospital as a premier tertiary healthcare destination for decades to come.