Located in the heart of Queensland’s Tablelands region, the $86.4 million Atherton Hospital redevelopment delivers a vital upgrade to regional healthcare services. Serving a growing population across the Tablelands and surrounding rural communities, the project was an opportunity to create a modern, patient-centred facility designed to meet current and future healthcare needs.
Peddle Thorp, the project’s lead architects, are renowned for designing community-focused facilities that balance technical performance with human experience. For Atherton Hospital, their brief was to deliver a contemporary healthcare environment that still reflected the town’s heritage and character.
Brendan Sutton, part of the design team at Peddle Thorp, explained:
“Delivering a hospital that had a strong connection to the history of the site was imperative…We wanted to deliver a low-maintenance, joyful building that the community was proud of and felt welcome at.”
By repurposing materials from the original hospital and referencing familiar local forms and textures, the design team created a civic building that feels both new and recognisably Atherton.
Project Background
Atherton Hospital is a 56-bed rural facility supporting over 1,600 emergency presentations and 1,500 outpatient visits each month.
The redevelopment reflects a statewide shift toward integrated, resilient healthcare infrastructure in regional Queensland. Because hospitals often function as emergency assembly points, they must meet Importance Level 3 (IL3) and Importance Level 4 (IL4) performance classifications, ensuring structures can withstand cyclonic winds and debris impact during extreme weather events.
The new facilities replace ageing infrastructure and improve patient flows – including direct ambulance entry to the Emergency Department and designated patient pick-up and drop-off zones, while consolidating services across the campus into the Clinical Services Building and Community, Allied and Mental Health Building.
Lysaght Solution:
From the outset, LYSAGHT DOMINION® wall cladding was identified through early collaboration with Peddle Thorp as a fully tested, standalone solution capable of meeting the project’s stringent cyclonic and debris impact benchmarks.
Matt Hardy, Lysaght’s North Queensland Specification Manager, explained:
“This is a hospital that doubles as an emergency assembly point, so it had to meet IL3 and IL4 requirements – that means debris impact resistance on top of cyclonic conditions. DOMINION® was perfect for that, especially with KF40® behind it. We’ve got a tested system that hits those benchmarks.”
To achieve this, Lysaght engaged its Research & Testing team early in the design process, undertaking additional testing to confirm DOMINION®’s capacity to deliver the required IL3/IL4 compliance.
“A lot of architects aren’t always aware of IL3/IL4 requirements when they’re designing these facilities. It’s something we flagged early – and with the help of our Research and Testing team, we had additional testing done to meet the higher wind speeds specific to the region.”
For Peddle Thorp, DOMINION® also provided the architectural flexibility and refined finish needed to align with the design intent.
“We wanted the main cladding of the hospital to reference the weatherboard cladding of surrounding houses, to tie in with the local context,” Brendan said. “The matte finish and ability to specify a thicker base metal thickness reduced the look of oil canning, ensuring the crisp lines of the facade were achieved.”
The result was a fully tested, standalone walling system that delivered:
- Performance certainty: Verified for both cyclonic and debris impact conditions.
- Simplified specification: Avoided the need to combine multiple systems, reducing complexity.
- Architectural flexibility: Three to four COLORBOND® steel Matt colours aligned with the design vision.
- Warranty confidence: Supported by a 15-year system warranty for durability and cost management.
Project Execution
Meeting the hospital’s extreme performance requirements required detailed technical adjustments, including increased fastener counts and refinements to installation methodology.
Matt highlighted the contribution of installer Matz Roofing in delivering a seamless result:
“Matt from Matz Roofing played a pivotal role, particularly in resolving complex facade detailing well ahead of tender. He worked closely with the design team to develop rainscreen and flashing solutions that complemented the DOMINION® walling system. His proactive involvement was instrumental in translating
design intent into a robust, buildable solution.”
Brendan also acknowledged DOMINION®’s adaptability on site:
“The flexibility of the product and its ability to be installed by the roofing contractor using traditional flashing techniques made junctions between walls and rooflines reliable, which is essential for a hospital that needs to be dependable and low maintenance.”
Despite weather events disrupting logistics between Brisbane and Sydney, close coordination between Lysaght and Matz Roofing ensured installation of the 3,500–4,000 sqm of walling remained on schedule.
Outcomes
The new hospital, officially opened in May 2023, provides a modern Clinical Services Building featuring a new Emergency Department, maternity ward and birth suite, operating and endoscopy theatres, imaging facilities, and expanded general wards, alongside a new Community, Allied & Mental Health Building.
The use of DOMINION® walling delivered measurable benefits:
- Faster timelines: Pre-painted steel eliminated the need for post-installation painting, enabling scaffolding to be removed earlier.
- Cost efficiency: Simplified detailing reduced complexity and helped manage project costs.
- Durability in tropical conditions: Solar reflectance and low-maintenance requirements ensure long-term performance.
Reflecting on the outcome, Matt said:
“It’s rewarding to see DOMINION® used on a project like Atherton Hospital. It’s a major piece of community infrastructure, and having a solution that meets both the architectural brief and the technical requirements made a real difference.”
Peddle Thorp agreed that the end result strikes the right balance of durability and design intent:
“DOMINION® helped us deliver a building that is timeless, classic, and will stand up to the harsh Far North Queensland climate for years to come.”
The project’s design excellence was recognised with the 2024 Far North Queensland People’s Choice Award by the Australian Institute of Architects.
Learnings
Atherton Hospital was one of the first debris impact installations for DOMINION® walling, making it a milestone project in Lysaght’s portfolio. The knowledge gained has informed subsequent projects across North Queensland.
Matt reflected:
“This project marked one of the first debris impact installations for DOMINION®, and the learnings captured have informed our approach to subsequent projects across North Queensland.”
The redevelopment has also influenced regional manufacturing investment decisions and shaped the delivery of other high- performance civic builds, including the Cairns Convention Centre
Conclusion
The Atherton Hospital redevelopment underscores the value of rigorous testing and collaborative expertise. By engaging its Research & Testing team early, Lysaght ensured DOMINION® wall cladding met the region’s cyclonic and debris impact benchmarks, giving the design team compliance certainty.
As one of the first debris impact projects for DOMINION®, Atherton Hospital has set a new standard for resilient healthcare infrastructure in North Queensland, shaping how future projects will be delivered.
