Billard Leece Partnership (BLP) has spent decades designing complex healthcare environments, but the new Sydney Children’s Hospital Network buildings at Randwick and Westmead marked a turning point in how the firm brought together people, data, and decision-making at scale. Delivered during the COVID‑19 pandemic and spanning thousands of highly specialised spaces, the project required technical rigour and a collaborative digital foundation capable of supporting both clinical precision and deeply human‑centred design.
Founded in Australia and operating internationally, BLP is an architecture and design firm focused on social infrastructure, with an emphasis on healthcare, laboratory, education and community environments. With over 1,700 projects delivered and a philosophy grounded in evidence‑based design, BLP works closely with clients, clinicians, and communities to create environments supporting wellbeing, dignity, and connection. On large‑scale health programs like the new Sydney Children’s Hospital Network Redevelopment, that philosophy must be underpinned by systems capable of managing extraordinary technical complexity without losing sight of the people those environments serve.
Healthcare projects are uniquely complex; every room carries a specific clinical function, regulatory requirements and the constraints of operational realities. Specifically On large paediatric hospital programs, that complexity multiplies rapidly. It’s not unusual for a single hospital to contain thousands of rooms, many of them treated as bespoke, standalone design problems.
For the SCHN, BLP was operating within a $1.3‑billion hospital portfolio commissioned by Health Infrastructure NSW, with hundreds of stakeholders spanning clinicians, engineers, contractors, user groups, and client representatives. The scale of coordination for the project made traditional, file‑based workflows unviable.
“On projects like this, accuracy isn’t optional,” says Tara Veldman, Managing Director at BLP. “Families, clinicians, and operators all depend on decisions being made from information they can trust. If the data isn’t right, you don’t just slow things down, you erode the confidence that stakeholders have put in you.”
- Tara Veldman, Managing Director at BLP
BLP’s relationship with Autodesk spans more than 30 years, but the move to a fully cloud‑based common data environment became critical during the early stages of the Sydney Children’s Hospital project. With COVID‑19 forcing teams into remote and hybrid working, Autodesk Forma provided digital continuity to maintain design velocity and quality.
By centralising project data within Autodesk Cloud, BLP established a single source of truth across disciplines. Design teams worked within Revit Cloud Worksharing, while Model Coordination and automated clash detection replaced time‑intensive processes. Version control, permissions and issue tracking were managed in a shared environment, reducing the risk of outdated information circulating across teams.
“Autodesk Solutions gave us confidence that everyone was working from the same information,” says Daniel Rhodes, National Design Technology Leader at BLP. “That confidence is what allows you to open the process up and bring more people into the conversation without increasing risk. This was critical to the success of the project, especially with the additional operational challenges the pandemic presented.”
—Daniel Rhodes, National Design Technology Leader, BLP
While Autodesk Forma delivered clear technical benefits, its greatest impact emerged in how it changed the nature of collaboration with non‑technical stakeholders on the project, namely families and carers who may not have been consulted in previous design projects.
BLP used Autodesk Forma’s model viewing capabilities to support engagement with these important stakeholders, allowing parents to experience the hospital spatially rather than interpreting abstract drawings. Families could move through patient rooms in 3D and discuss design decisions in concrete, practical terms.
“When you’re designing for children and their families, small decisions carry enormous weight,” says Veldman. “Things like where a parent sits overnight, how daylight enters a room, or how close you are to shared spaces all shape the experience of care. Being able to explore those questions together in real time changes the quality of the conversation and, importantly, the resulting environment.”
For example, one especially meaningful outcome of this process was the inclusion of a dedicated food‑delivery window adjacent to a teenage patient lounge; this feature was shaped specifically by user‑group feedback and may not have been otherwise included in the final design. Rather than emerging as a late‑stage change, the idea was tested, refined, and resolved within the live model.
“For families, that kind of detail says: we were heard,” Veldman reflects. “And for the project team, it shows what becomes possible when coordination is strong enough to support co‑design in the truest sense.”
One of the two buildings, The Sydney Children’s Hospital and Mindoro etc etc was delivered under a design‑and‑construct model, with BLP novated to the hospital's main contractor. In that environment, maintaining clarity around information ownership, responsibility and coordination was critical.
Autodesk Forma supported this ecosystem by providing controlled access to models and documentation while maintaining governance over versioning and approvals. Engineering consultants and construction partners could work with coordinated models in near real time, reducing latency between design decisions and downstream responses.
“Removing friction from coordination isn’t about reducing opportunities for our experts to weigh in with their professional judgement,” Rhodes says. “It actually protects that process and gives experienced teams more capacity to focus on the decisions that really matter.”
This automated model coordination further reduced reliance on manual QA processes so architects and engineers didn’t have to spend hours overlaying drawings, clashes could be identified systematically with automation, and teams could spend more time on resolution, not detection.
Design excellence proven in delivery
BLP’s work on social infrastructure design has been recognised with industry awards globally. In 2025, Managing Director Tara Veldman was awarded the inaugural Australian Health Design Council (AHDC) Gold Medal – recognising exemplary leadership and impactful contribution in healthcare design in Australia.
BLP’s work has also received international recognition at the European Healthcare Design Awards in London, where the practice was awarded a Highly Commended acknowledgement in the Future Projects category. This recognition highlights the strength of BLP’s forward-thinking, evidence-based approach and its commitment to shaping the next generation of healthcare environments.
Rather than being a separate ambition, that recognition reflects the rigour of the design and delivery process itself, from data governance and coordination through to a meticulous integration of family and clinician input. “Awards are never the goal,” Veldman notes. “They matter only insofar as they signal that the process worked and the building performs for the people who rely on it every day.”
BLP’s work on social infrastructure design has been recognised with industry awards globally. In 2025, Managing Director Tara Veldman was awarded the inaugural Australian Health Design Council (AHDC) Gold Medal – recognising exemplary leadership and impactful contribution in healthcare design in Australia.
BLP’s work has also received international recognition at the European Healthcare Design Awards in London, where the practice was awarded a Highly Commended acknowledgement in the Future Projects category. This recognition highlights the strength of BLP’s forward-thinking, evidence-based approach and its commitment to shaping the next generation of healthcare environments.
Rather than being a separate ambition, that recognition reflects the rigour of the design and delivery process itself, from data governance and coordination through to a meticulous integration of family and clinician input. “Awards are never the goal,” Veldman notes. “They matter only insofar as they signal that the process worked and the building performs for the people who rely on it every day.”
- Tara Veldman, Managing Director at BLP
Looking ahead, Autodesk solutions continues to play a central role in how BLP approaches these complex projects. The team has adopted a phased implementation strategy, embedding core workflows before expanding into additional modules and integrations, helping to scale capability without overwhelming teams.
That foundation positions BLP to engage more meaningfully with emerging technologies, including AI‑assisted workflows and automations, while maintaining the governance and clarity required in the sorts of heavily regulated environments the firm works in.
“We very much believe technology should support better thinking, not distract from it or create unneeded complexity,” Veldman concludes. “When the data is right, you create the conditions for better collaboration and less mistakes. And when it comes to projects like this one, that means ultimately creating an environment that supports families in some of the most difficult times of their lives.”
