Refurbishment works at SCGH - Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk and retail precinct renewal project

Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk and retail precinct renewal project

Watling Walk and the E Block retail precinct are both having a facelift!

Work on renewing Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital’s main north-south corridor and re-activating the retail precinct begins on 2 August 2021.

In line with our commitment to creating a culturally secure environment at our sites, Watling Walk will be renamed and will now be known as Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk. My sincere thanks to the SCGOPHCG Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing Committee for your work on the dual-naming project which will see some key areas at SCGH, including Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk renamed. Signage reflecting the name changes will be updated in due course.

Balbuk Bidi is named in recognition of Fanny Balbuk Yooreel, who was a prominent Noongar Whadjuk woman, known for her unwavering commitment to maintaining her land rights. Balbuk would walk the track between her birth site and the railway station, regardless of any new obstacles, buildings or fences.

The Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk works include new flooring and fresh paint, as well as the upgrade of some displays along the corridor. The Tree of Life will be relocated from G Street to Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk adjacent to the retail precinct. The retail precinct works also include new flooring plus a shell fit out of four tenancies in preparation for new tenants.

The result will be a new, vibrant hub for Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and a contemporary feel to Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk. 

Program of Works

The works will take approximately four months for the retail precinct and six months for Balbuk Bidi Watling Walk, with some changes to access during the works which will be undertaken in stages.