Moving around the campus

Entry points to the campus

There are multiple entry points to the hospital buildings. 

Main entrances

  • Kids Research via KidsPark forecourt corner of Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead. (Entrance 18) 
  • Wattle Building via ‘KidsPark’ forecourt corner of Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street, Westmead. (Entrance 19) 
  • Banksia Building via Hawkesbury Road and Hainsworth Street (Entrance 20, main drop off zone)

Internal access points

Levels 2 and 3: There are internal connections between Banksia Building and Wattle Building via the Linkway, access off Main Street. There are additional internal connections on these levels from Wattle Building to Block K of Westmead Hospital. 

Emergency and Perioperative Suite connections

  • Emergency Department (ED): internal access from ED to the Wattle Building will ensure quick and efficient transfer of patients. 
  • Perioperative Suite: an internal pathway will connect the Perioperative Suite with the CHW Pod B Operating Theatres, allowing seamless movement of patients and staff on the perioperative level.  

Lifts

The Wattle Building will contain directional lifts to enable staff, families and visitors to travel between levels 3 and 12. 

Directional lifts enable people to move more efficiently than traditional elevators because: 

  • The system groups passengers who are traveling to nearby floors together and indicates which lift car to enter. 
  • Instead of pressing a button inside the elevator to select a floor, the desired floor number is selected at a control panel located in the lift lobby. 
  • Each elevator has a display to indicate which floors it will stop at, ensuring passengers know where to enter and exit. 
  • The elevator proceeds directly to the designated floors in the programmed sequence. This reduces the number of stops and travel time. 

Wayfinding

Clear wayfinding methods are used across the campus, including:  

  • Descriptive ward names to reflect the patients they care for. For example: Surgical IPU, Cardiac IPU 
  • Building pods: the Wattle Building will have pods A, B, C and D to identify different sides of the building. 

Animals: each inpatient unit has a unique native animal attached to it drawn by hospital patients. The animals connect with the overall building design concept, helping to demonstrate flora and fauna that lives below, on and above local waterways which intersect at Westmead. 

Image of 3 wayfinding animals including an eel, gecko and Koala, drawn by patients from CHW.
Examples of native animals drawn by patients from CHW

Bed numbers: bed numbering occurs across the floor rather than each ward.