The Nurse Maude Palliative Care Facility is a 13-bed hospice, completed in 2026. The project evolved over more than a decade from initial briefing, through extensive community fundraising & collaboration with the project team.

The building concept and massing are driven by response to the Mansfield Avenue residential context, across the road from the main Nurse Maude site. The building comprises two main forms, the entry building, housing lobby, reception, outpatient, counselling, education facilities, building services, and the patient wing, including patient rooms, associated clinical spaces, family/whanau spaces and staff facilities.

 Site use prioritises connections to courtyards and landscaping, providing break-out / respite for patients, family and staff. The building forms are disconnected to create a central courtyard which provides a focal space for staff, education & family, while bringing light into the centre of the building. Patient rooms and family/whanau spaces open into private courtyards to the edges of the site.

 A double-height lobby/reception brings light and volume to the entry sequence, which connects to the circulation spine adjacent to the courtyard edge, through to the inpatient wing corridor volume, with the nurses’ station at the heart of the facility.

 The predominantly timber structure is expressed through these volumes, with the exposed glulam frames providing a rhythm to the spaces. The hospice core values are expressed in the cultural narrative, rebated to the entry columns and woven through the building fabric. At the heart of the narrative are the values that guide the experience of care: Manaakitanga, Whanaungatanga, Wairua, Tikanga & Mahi Kotahi.

 The building includes extensive use of natural, soft materiality to provide a sense of calm, familiarity & biophilic connection to nature. Through the use of warm grey brick, curved forms soften the building form & lead through to the timber interior lined in hardwood & veneer panelling. While balancing clinical healthcare requirements, the materials are purposefully natural to create a warm and inviting space for patients, whanau and the Nurse Maude team.