BVN Stories, Opinion — October 27, 2025

Healthier Horizons for the UK

October has been a month of powerful conversations as we continue to explore how smarter design can enable healthier lives and communities. Recognising that health spans physical, mental, emotional and social dimensions, we aim to shape environments that nurture these interconnected aspects of wellbeing, creating a ripple effect that extends from individuals to entire communities. We’ve been applying this philosophy to the knowledge-sharing forums we’ve been a part of in the UK over the past few weeks.

Canberra Hospital Expansion, Canberra Australia

Healthy City Design 2025: Regeneration, Inclusion, and Population Health.

Our UK team joined the Healthy City Design International Congress at the Lowry in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 14-15 October, an event focused on the intersection of urban regeneration, health equity, and community participation.

Principal Matthew Blair

Meet Matthew

chaired a panel on population health and bringing care into the community, exploring how healthcare delivery can move beyond hospital walls to embed health into everyday life. The discussion highlighted how design can support prevention, participation, and long-term wellbeing, particularly in rapidly changing urban contexts such as Greater Manchester.

Strategy Director Esme Banks Marr

Meet Esme

, a member of the Healthy City Design advisory committee, chaired a session on impact investment for healthier lives, exploring how social, economic, and environmental value intersect in creating resilient and inclusive health systems.

Canberra Hospital Expansion, Australia

The Canberra Hospital Expansion sets a new benchmark for healthcare facilities as Australia’s first all-electric hospital. Powered by 100% renewable energy, its emissions impact is reduced by approximately 1,886 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.

Maitland Hospital Aerial View looking mountains

Maitland Hospital, Maitland, Australia

Prince of Wales Acute Services Building, Randwick, Australia

IHEEM Healthcare Estates: Shaping the next generation of NHS hospitals.

Our team also attended the IHEEM Healthcare Estates conference in Manchester, where the UK’s New Hospital Programme (NHP) shared progress updates and design developments. The NHP represents the government’s initiative to deliver a new wave of hospital projects across England, aiming to create more sustainable facilities that are digitally enabled and fit for the future.

A central discussion point was the development of Hospital 2.0 design guidance, including the move towards single inpatient bedrooms for all new NHS hospitals. This shift will influence and have a significant impact on clinical planning, patient experience, and operational efficiency.

Drawing on BVN’s experience, with more than 15 major hospital projects delivered in Australia over the past 15 years, we are well positioned to accelerate and apply lessons at scale, locally. Projects such as the Canberra Hospital Expansion

, Maitland Hospital

, and the Prince of Wales Acute Services Buillding

in Sydney demonstrate the benefits of early partnership models, iterative briefing, and campus-scale planning. These examples offer useful parallels as the UK embarks on its own transformation.

Canberra Hospital Expansion, Australia

Knowledge without borders: building shared understanding

In early October, BVN’s London studio hosted its annual roundtable, held under Chatham House rules and chaired by Principal Stephanie Costelloe.

Meet Stephanie

This year’s theme was custodianship of healthcare design and it sparked discussion about our shared responsibilities as designers, clients, and collaborators. While perspectives varied, a common thread emerged: the importance of communication and engagement throughout every project stage — before, during, and after delivery — to ensure that we learn from our lived experiences and continuously improve.

As health systems worldwide navigate change, our role as designers is not just to build buildings, but to shape environments that support connection, wellbeing, and care — now and for generations to come.

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