Starship Children’s Hospital, Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland is New Zealand’s largest dedicated children’s hospital. The Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) redevelopment involved a major transformation of the existing facility, including significant work within the atrium, and expanded the unit’s capacity by 45 percent.

This expansion had been urgently needed. The PICU cares for the most critically unwell and injured children in Aotearoa New Zealand and had been operating at or near full capacity for many years. The new design draws inspiration from the pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo), incorporating forest tones and natural textures from Aotearoa’s landscape to create a calming environment for whānau who are often facing immense stress. The upgraded facility now includes additional beds, advanced clinical technology, a dedicated high dependency unit, a new day stay unit, expanded whānau spaces, a state of the art simulation suite, and improved staff amenities.

Jensen Hughes provided fire engineering and passive fire consultancy for this complex redevelopment. The project required a highly specialised fire engineering approach, including an alternative solution supported by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling using FDS.  As part of the atrium redevelopment, mass timber floors were introduced to infill part of the space, taking advantage of their lightweight properties. 

This created unique fire engineering and passive fire challenges, including managing the additional fire load within an existing children’s hospital and coordinating detailed, project specific requirements. Working closely with project stakeholders, we developed solutions that ensured the building met all regulatory and safety requirements.

The PICU redevelopment at Starship Children’s Hospital represents a major advancement in paediatric healthcare for New Zealand. Through innovative design and expert collaboration, the project has expanded critical care capacity while enhancing safety, comfort, and wellbeing for patients, whānau, and staff. Jensen Hughes is proud to have contributed to this important project alongside Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora – Te Toka Tumai Auckland.