Multiplex has been appointed the early contractor involvement (ECI) partner for the new $2 billion Bankstown Hospital, a 14-storey hospital in Bankstown’s CBD in Sydney’s south-west, after the NSW Government approved the project’s State Significant Development application. Demolition and site remediation are already running on the site, and main works are expected to start in 2027.
The appointment was reported by Inside Construction. Under the ECI arrangement, Multiplex works with the project team, the designers and hospital clinicians and staff to finalise the design before main works construction begins.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Health Infrastructure and working together to create a world-class hospital that will serve the fast-growing Bankstown region for decades to come,” said Multiplex NSW regional managing director David Ghannoum.
The NSW Government’s release on the approval says Multiplex won the role through a competitive tender, and describes the $2 billion spend as the single largest capital investment in a public hospital in the state’s history.
Demolition now, main works in 2027
Demolition and remediation will keep going through 2026 to get the site ready for the main hospital build. That’s the unglamorous end of a job this size: strip-out, hazardous material handling, slab and footing removal, and getting contaminated ground signed off before anyone sets a pile rig on it.
The site sits in Bankstown’s CBD, close to local services and public transport, including the future Bankstown Metro station.
“The state-of-the-art new Bankstown Hospital will deliver more beds and treatment spaces and deliver critical care for the growing population of southwest Sydney that will help meet the healthcare needs of the fast-growing and diverse community,” said NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park.
NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully tied the approval to the wider rebuild of the town centre.
“Well located near public transport, including the future Bankstown Metro station, the new hospital will support the renewal of the city centre while making it easier for patients, staff and visitors to access services,” Scully said.
“With more people choosing to live and work in the area, careful planning is needed to deliver the critical infrastructure communities rely on and make sure it’s connected with transport, jobs and services.”
What’s in the approved scope
The project delivers the 14-storey hospital building with extra beds and treatment spaces, expanded health services and a multi-storey car park. A separate emergency drop-off area and dedicated emergency parking are also part of the development.
Final decisions on the service mix will come as planning progresses. It’s expected to cover an expanded emergency department, operating theatres, an intensive care unit, surgical and medical services, women and children’s health including maternity, mental health inpatient services, ambulatory care, cancer services and aged care health services.
Trade coverage of the approval fills in detail the announcement skipped. ArchitectureAu reports the design was prepared by Architectus and Billard Leece Partnership, with a 10-storey carpark and a green plaza forming the main entrance. Landscape Contractor reports the approved application includes more than 300 new trees across the site.
Why the ECI bit matters if you’re chasing a package
ECI is the reason this announcement lands well before a shovel goes in the ground on the tower. Instead of handing a finished set of drawings to a builder and asking for a price, the client brings the builder in while the design is still moving, so buildability, staging and procurement get argued out on paper rather than on site.
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with Health Infrastructure and working together to create a world-class hospital that will serve the fast-growing Bankstown region for decades to come.”
For subcontractors, that shifts the calendar forward. Trade packages, long-lead plant and the staging logic that decides who gets the deck first are being scoped during the design phase, not the week before main works. If you want a look at a hospital job in Sydney’s south-west, the tendering conversation starts in the design year.
It also matters because hospitals are services-heavy buildings. A 14-storey acute facility carries far more mechanical, hydraulic and electrical work per square metre than a commercial office box of the same height: operating theatres, an ICU and imaging rooms all bring plant, redundancy and coordination requirements that have to be resolved in the model before the frame is poured. Gasfitting on medical gas reticulation is licensed work in every state and territory, and it has to be sequenced with everything else in the ceiling.
The carpentry sits at both ends. Formwork crews and steel fixers own the frame as it climbs, and the 10-storey carpark is a separate structure that can run alongside it rather than waiting in line. Fitout carpenters follow the frame up floor by floor for partitions, doors, hardware and joinery, and on a hospital that fitout is where the program usually gets tight.
The number to keep
The Bankstown Hospital project is estimated to support about 3,600 direct jobs, with the potential for thousands of indirect jobs over its life, according to a NSW Government ministerial release on construction commencing at the $2 billion build.
Worth being careful with that headline dollar figure. Some international wire coverage rendered it as a converted US dollar amount, which is a currency conversion, not a smaller project.
What to watch through the rest of 2026 is the design finalisation and the trade packages that come out of it, because that’s when the frame and fitout scopes get firmed up. If you’re weighing whether to put on another apprentice or a second ute off the back of this one, the labour lands from 2027, not this summer.
Frequently asked questions
What does ECI mean in construction?
Early contractor involvement (ECI) means the builder joins the project while the design is still being finalised, working with the client, designers and, in this case, hospital clinicians and staff, rather than tendering on a finished set of drawings.
When will main works start on the Bankstown Hospital?
Demolition and site remediation are already underway and will continue through 2026. Main construction works are expected to start in 2027.
How many jobs will the Bankstown Hospital project create?
The NSW Government estimates the project will support about 3,600 direct jobs, with the potential for thousands of indirect jobs over its life.
Who is building the new Bankstown Hospital?
Multiplex was appointed as ECI partner through a competitive tender. The design was prepared by Architectus and Billard Leece Partnership.
Sourced from Inside Construction, NSW Government, ArchitectureAu, Landscape Contractor. Original article.
