McKellar Centre Masterplan

The McKellar Centre is located on Ballarat Road in North Geelong and provides a range of sub-acute, aged care, mental health and supplementary services to the Barwon Health catchment.  The campus is low density, and comprises a number of low rise assets distributed throughout the site.  It also features the heritage listed McKellar Memorial Chapel, which was originally built in 1861 as a ballroom for the homestead Bell Park. The building was repurposed and dedicated as the Catharine McKellar Memorial Chapel in 1964.  

The McKellar campus has evolved in response to adhoc accommodation needs and funding streams. Past developments have been opportunistic rather than follow a predetermined development plan.  Barwon Health commissioned Studio STH in 2020 and again in 2025 to develop a masterplan for the campus in order to provide a framework for future development and to work towards providing a more integrated and legible campus. 

Barwon Health’s accommodation drivers for the masterplan include: a need to accommodate a large clinical support workforce, consolidation its rehabilitation services, provision of car-parking and demolition of aged and surplus assets.  The Studio STH Masterplan study was informed by a detailed asset assessment process, which together with the program needs informed the asset management strategy.  Additionally Studio STH undertook a comprehensive urban framework study with its project partners.  

This analysis provided and understand of the interfacing urban fabric and informed opportunities to:

The Masterplan outcome sees the establishment of a pedestrian friendly forecourt and hospital heart which is framed by a series of medium rise accommodation assets.  Meanwhile the substantive administration block is proposed to be located at the southern end of the site on Ballarat Road to facilitate easy access by staff and to act as a wayfinding marker that identifies the approach to the campus.