Multiplex completes new John Hunter Hospital building

Multiplex has completed the $890 million Acute Services Building at John Hunter Hospital, marking the contractor's largest project for Health Infrastructure to date. The 110,000-square-metre facility expands healthcare access across Newcastle and the Hunter region through seven clinical levels and a double rooftop helipad. This redevelopment is a critical component of the John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct, designed to meet future demand for emergency and procedural services.

The new Acute Services Building features a significantly expanded Emergency Department and a 60 per cent increase in Intensive Care Unit capacity, operating alongside a specialist paediatric ICU. The project also delivered 22 new operating theatres, birthing suites, a neonatal ICU, and more than 900 additional car parking spaces. Spanning 110,000 square metres, the facility was built adjacent to the existing operational John Hunter Hospital, which is one of the busiest medical centers in New South Wales.

Construction was complicated by the site's geological history, as the building sits above a network of legacy mine workings. Multiplex engineers used more than 6,000 cubic metres of grout to stabilize old mineshafts before foundation work could commence. The interior fit-out required millimetre-level construction tolerances for specialized medical equipment, including CT scanners and angiography machines, alongside the integration of high-capacity power and cooling systems.

The project provided a major boost to the local economy, with 70 per cent of the work awarded to local businesses and a total of 4,700 construction workers employed throughout the build. At the peak of construction, approximately 930 workers were on-site daily. Multiplex regional managing director David Ghannoum highlighted the project as a reflection of the firm's expertise in large-scale healthcare infrastructure. Furthermore, the project achieved a 14 per cent female workforce participation rate and supported 83 job placements for Indigenous Australians and other underrepresented groups through the Infrastructure Skills Legacy Program.