Harbour Hospice
North Shore
Harbour Hospice is a specialist, palliative care provider for whānau living in the Hibiscus Coast, North Shore and Warkworth/Wellsford communities. Their existing buildings on the North Shore site were aging and deemed conditionally unfit-for-purpose. Their spatial arrangement also struggled to keep up with Hospice’s current and future service demand and changing model of care. Klein was approached to provide design and architectural services for this refurbishment/modification project, which sought to remedy all of the above by fully upgrading the two buildings externally and internally, with spatial reorganisation to improve utilisation of the available existing footprint.
The interior environment also received a complete design overhaul. A mixture of warm white walls, proliferation of warm timber slats and trims, textural carpet, highlights of dark turquoise, mustard yellow and blues, and feature strip lighting has modernised the hospice, aligning well with its new branding, while providing a warm and calming environment for the patients. These are people who are going through the most traumatic and upsetting experiences of their lives, we hope that the new environment brings, in a small way, some reprieve and moments of serenity, and that it helps the hospice staff in supporting them in the best possible ways.
In the future, Hospice’s role in the community is anticipated to change and service demand will increase, with greater emphasis being placed on providing the following services:
- Hospice will be an advocate and collaborative leader in improving care of the dying across the sector
- Hospice will provide a higher proportion of support and education to other health professionals
- Hospice will provide an outreach service to support aged residential care
- Specialist palliative care will be integrated with other services - sharing patient notes, being part of wider multidisciplinary meetings and providing services as a continuum of care.
Models of care needs to change to accommodate future growth within Harbour Hospice. Rising demographic growth, particularly in the elderly population and those with terminal illnesses, will have a significant impact on the number of patients managed by Hospice.
The North Shore Hospice Trust wishes to triple the impact of care being delivered by 2034. This rise in growth will be accommodated by shorter but more acute stays within Hospice, and the majority of patients being treated within the community. This puts pressure on the community services and how they are delivered.
The original North Shore Hospice building was constructed in or around the late 1970s, and the Inpatient Unit extension was built in 2003. In their current condition, both of these existing buildings have been deemed unfit for future hospice operations.
In order to support the delivery of the future vision of North Shore Hospice, the existing buildings received extensive refurbishment/upgrade and reorganisation of space to provide fit for purpose accommodation for hospice’s services and operations.
In the 1970’s Administration Building, the original dark-coloured clinker brickwork was replaced with modern white bricks with new vertical metal cladding above. This freshens the first impression upon arrival, much improved from the dated, oppressive aesthetic of the past. The roofline was streamlined while modern metal roofing replaced the damaged clay tiles. Main entry which was once hidden in the internal corner has been relocated to the centre of the building, celebrated with a double height volume and large skylight.
The Inpatient Building also received a reclad. The basement level’s blockwork was repainted while the upper stories received a new vertical metal cladding, while balconies were replaced, with new pergola structure installed.
Spatially patient therapy spaces used to sit amongst administration and support spaces. A total rezone has meant that the Administration Building is now used purely for patient therapeutic and whānau functions, providing much improved co-adjacency with the inpatient ward in the building next door. Meanwhile administrative spaces have been relocated and consolidated to the lower ground floor (what was once carparking area) of the Inpatient Building – the space now feels much more purposeful and collaborative.
The interior environment also received a complete design overhaul. A mixture of warm white walls, proliferation of warm timber slats and trims, textural carpet, highlights of dark turquoise, mustard yellow and blues, and feature strip lighting has modernised the hospice, aligning well with its new branding, while providing a warm and calming environment for the patients. These are people who are going through the most traumatic and upsetting experiences of their lives, we hope that the new environment brings, in a small way, some reprieve and moments of serenity, and that it helps the hospice staff in supporting them in the best possible ways.
Awards: 2024 Best Design Awards - Bronze in Spatial | Healthcare & Wellbeing