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      Hariri Pontarini rethinks cold medical interiors at Barlo MS Centre

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      Canadian architecture studio Hariri Pontarini has completed a clinic in Toronto for multiple sclerosis patients that features warm wood tones and spaces designed to feel like “first-class airplane lounges”.

      The Barlo MS Centre is Canada’s largest clinic dedicated to those with MS, a complex autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system.
      The BARLO MS Centre was designed with atypical colours, materials, textures and lightingNamed after its two biggest donors, the Barford and Love families, the centre occupies the top two floors of a new 17-storey tower at St Michael’s Hospital in Downtown Toronto.
      The 30,000-square-foot (2,790-square-metre) facility was designed by local studio Hariri Pontarini Architects, which aimed to rethink sterile-looking healthcare spaces and focus on patient wellbeing through the use of atypical colours, materials, textures and lighting.
      The clinic’s two storeys are connected by a staircase that rises through an atrium”Canadians are particularly prone to MS for reasons that are unclear,” said the studio.

      “This hospital’s mission is nothing less than to transform MS care and become the world’s leading MS centre through research and clinical treatment.”
      Circular consultation rooms are partially clad in walnutTaking cues from the hospitality industry, the team aimed to create a “comfortable and welcoming environment” by filling the spaces with daylight and offering views of the skyline.
      The two floors are connected by a double-height atrium, topped with an oculus that allows more natural light in from above.
      The wavy panels conceal the rooms from the main circulation corridorA staircase rises up through the atrium, curving towards the top with a glass balustrade to follow the shape of the opening.
      Downstairs, the atrium connects to a lounge at the corner of the building and a reception area anchored by a curved white counter.
      Infusion pods are given privacy by pale wood screensA wide corridor leads past a series of cylindrical consultation rooms that are partially glazed, but screened where they face the circulation area by wavy walnut panels.
      On the other side of the floor plan, smaller and more open consultation booths named infusion pods are still offered privacy with curved pale wood screens.
      Different varieties of wood give the interiors a warm tone”The infusion pods where patients may sit for up to eight hours are modelled to resemble a first-class airplane lounge and provide complete control over their environment,” the Hariri Pontarini team said.
      Various light-toned woods are used for wall panels and balustrades, as well as thin slats that extend across the ceilings.
      The atrium connects to a lounge and waiting areaAll spaces were designed with durability and accessibility in mind, considering that some MS patients have vision and cognitive loss, fatigue and impaired coordination.
      Bronze-coloured handrails were installed along the majority of walls and partitions, while anti-slip porcelain tiles cover the floors to aid patient mobility.

      UUfie completes light-filled Ontario medical clinic with translucent polycarbonate walls

      The centre also includes a gym, a mock apartment adapted for MS patients, and rooms for meetings, research and administration.
      Together, it provides patients with a space to see a dedicated healthcare team in one location and clinicians the state-of-the-art resources to offer the best possible treatment.
      An oculus above the atrium brings daylight into the centre of the buildingHariri Pontarini Architects was founded by Siamak Hariri and David Pontarini in 1994.
      One of the studio’s most recognisable buildings is the Bahá’í temple in Chile, featuring torqued wings made of steel and glass, while its work closer to home includes the glass-wrapped Tom Patterson Theatre in Stratford, Ontario.
      Handrails are provided throughout the clinic to aid patient mobilityThe Bar MS Centre is one of five projects shortlisted in the Leisure and Wellness Interior category of the Dezeen Awards 2022, along with a Shenzhen cinema and a spa in the Maldives.
      See the full Interiors shortlist and vote now for your favourites.
      The photography is by A-Frame.

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      Frederick Tang Architecture transforms New York loft into light-filled wellness studio

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      Interior architecture and design studio Frederick Tang Architecture (FTA) has updated Moxi, a wellness studio and acupuncture centre in Soho, New York by re-arranging its interiors around an expansive oval skylight.

      Frederick Tang Architecture, based in Brooklyn, was tasked with reordering and redesigning the open-plan, top-floor studio into a space that accommodates a reception area, six treatment rooms, offices, bathrooms, herb dispensary and pantry.
      Frederick Tang Architecture wanted to capture natural lightThe studio took the 1901 mercantile building’s skylight as the starting point for the refurbishment of the rectangular-shaped space.
      Its dense urban context required an innovative solution to increase the floor area while introducing natural light throughout.
      Moxi is arranged around a central skylight”Architecturally we wanted to organise the many different components in a plan that felt logical and complete which was difficult with space constraints,” said Frederick Tang, director of design and principal architect at Frederick Tang Architecture (FTA).

      “We started by organizing the plan around the sources of natural light,” he told Dezeen.
      An office space has been added to the interiorVisitors enter the wellness studio and arrive at a reception area framed by four arched windows overlooking Broadway.
      Here, a custom bench crafted from white oak slats and copper detailing curves along two walls while sculptural pendant lights hang from the ceiling.
      To maximise space and take full advantage of the natural light, this area doubles as a site for gatherings and classes.
      The reception is flanked by four arched windowsFTA reconfigured Moxi’s rooms as well as softened corners and created arches that echo some of the existing architecture of the space for the client who wanted the interior to feel “holistic, natural, calm and inspiring”.
      A single corridor leads to all six treatment rooms, which were also coloured in shades of green.
      The walls were lime-washed in a soft cypress green, with wainscotting wooden panels painted in a darker shade of the same hue.

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      FTA wanted the colour to contrast traditional wellness studios which are often white and feel more clinical.
      “The predominant colour was green –lime washed in a cypress and deep forest – chosen for its property to heal, critical at the front where the patron first experiences the space,” said the architects.
      Each acupuncture treatment room has a different wallpaperThe treatment rooms, which are the most intimate sections in the studio, contain two bedrooms and a bathroom arranged around the lightwell.
      The green was offset by hints of pale peach throughout the interior and natural finishes including terrazzo, concrete, boucle and ribbed glass add depth and texture.
      A kitchenette is located at the end of the central corridorAt the end of the corridor, a second archway opens into a back-of-house area, where FTA has inserted a new office, herb dispensary, staff pantry, and bath.
      Other design-focused wellness spaces include the Shelter wellness centre in Sydney, which is located in a former restaurant and Yoko Kitahara spa in Israel, which was transformed from an Ottoman-era home.
      The photography is by Gieves Anderson.

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      Norm Architects designs spa-like dental clinic modelled on art galleries

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      Warm oak and smooth concrete are among the materials that Danish studio Norm Architects used to create the interiors for this Antwerp dental surgery, which aims to defy traditional, more clinical designs.

      The clinic, called Dentology+, is spread over a cavernous basement area and a ground-floor level. Both have been clad in a neutral material palette that was designed to evoke a sense of calm.
      The dental clinic was designed to defy traditional medical interiorsThe private dental clinic’s basement is made up of a set of dusty grey corridors, which Copenhagen-based Norm Architects designed to make it look as if the rooms were carved from a block of concrete.
      These concrete volumes are interrupted only by carefully selected minimal design elements such as geometric alcoves, pared-back black pendant lights and an earthy-hued circular artwork by Sara Martinsen.
      A cavernous basement area defines half the surgeryA low-slung sofa finished in a light-coloured textile also features in the basement, which was designed by Norm Architects’ longtime collaborator Keiji Ashizawa for Japanese brand Ariake.

      “The need to dwell and retreat to intimate nooks is a basic human requirement that we cannot dismiss when shaping living spaces,” Norm Architects co-founder Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen told Dezeen.
      Circular artwork by Sara Martinsen hangs above a low-slung sofaDentology+’s upper level was designed to be brighter and airier than its basement, while maintaining the clinic’s overall neutral theme.
      Cubes of light oak create walls and doors that are interspersed with objects including a pebble-like vase on a plinth, in a design that takes cues from the interiors of an art gallery.
      Translucent curtains line the windows of the operating rooms.

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      The choice to design Dentology+’s interior using materials that might be considered unusual for medical spaces was made in an attempt to enhance patients’ wellbeing, according to architect Sofie Thorning.
      “In many ways, we looked more to beautiful spa resorts than classic white dental clinics for inspiration,” she told Dezeen.
      Operating rooms exist within light oak walls”Material translucency and soft, warm light paired with carefully considered, crafted materials work to reshape the patient experience and perception,” she added. “The space is nothing like an ordinary dental clinic.”
      “What we surround ourselves with simply has a great impact on our mood and behaviour, which is why working with natural materials in architecture and design is a simple way to enrich our surroundings and enhance our quality of life,” added Bjerre-Poulsen.
      Afteroom chairs by Menuspace feature on the upper levelFounded in 2008, Norm Architects is a multidisciplinary design studio based in Copenhagen. Other projects by the practice that celebrate neutral and calming interiors include a minimal Chinese tea parlour and a jewellery store in Copenhagen informed by modernist artists’ studios.
      The photography is by Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen.
      Project credits:
      Architect & Partner: Sofie ThorningArchitect: Qing YeClient: Dentology+

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      Kingston Lafferty Design creates “otherworldly” interiors for Dublin skin clinic

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      A palette of plaster, marble, terrazzo and stainless steel was chosen to create interiors that customers want to “reach out and touch” in this Dublin skin clinic by Kingston Lafferty Design.The local firm was commissioned by the Fitzgerald Private Clinic to capture a sense of calm, quiet luxury while maintaining the cleanliness expected from a surgery.

      Top image: the Fitzgerald Private Clinic has a marble-clad archway. Above: its retail space features marble counters
      “The service offer is premium and luxury, and the spaces that encapsulate it were designed to echo that at every touchpoint,” Kingston Lafferty Design founder Roisin Lafferty told Dezeen.
      “We wanted to design a space that was tactile and all-encompassing with a sense of otherworldliness, incorporating associations of sterility with a balance of warmth.”

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      Spread across two tight, 46-square-metre floors, the Dublin clinic houses retail, storage and waiting areas on the lower level while the first floor encapsulates three treatment rooms, a toilet, staff room and secondary waiting area.
      “It is a very small space, so we needed to be clever when designing the layout to get the absolute maximum use from the space,” explained Lafferty. “Every element is jigsawed together to double up, offering both functionality and beauty.”

      The interior of the arch is finished with terracotta-coloured tiles

      Customers enter the clinic through a street-facing, pink-hued retail store with a micro cement floor and a curved wall lined with plaster tubes. According to Kingston Lafferty Design (KLD), these were designed to resemble putty and made from multiple layers of warm-toned plaster that were built up within a custom mould.
      “We wanted the different surfaces to be tactile and combined in unexpected ways, almost calling for people to reach out and touch, and for everything to appear as though it was formed from the structure of the building, as though it was all meant to be there,” said Lafferty.

      The clinic’s undulating pink plaster wall has three inset shelves
      Set with three brass shelves, the undulating wall doubles as a retail display area and also conceals added storage space behind a fully tube-clad door.
      The entrance area is anchored by a black and white terrazzo reception desk that sits under an Acquasanta marble archway. The underside of the arch is clad with zig-zagging matt red tiles that complement the tone of the marble.

      The walls and floor of the waiting area are covered in black and white terrazzo
      “The arch is the strongest element that frames the clinic experience,” the designer explained. “It highlights the sales and reception desk while encasing and concealing an existing structural beam. We built the arch to align with the depth of the custom reception desk, focusing on materiality both on the front facade and the inner depth.”
      The skin clinic, which sits beyond the arch, contrasts with the soft pink tones of the store. It features a stainless steel staircase and black and white terrazzo flooring, with the archway marking the junction between the two.

      Treatment rooms are clad in stainless steel
      “The staircase was the only structural element that we kept in the design. We sought to make a feature of its angular form and framed it in steel and glass, the steel providing both a tactile wall covering and a vital storage bank with additional retail display for product,” Lafferty said.
      An intimate waiting room wrapped in terrazzo and housing a bench seat upholstered in blue leather is located on the other side of the store’s curved, undulating wall.

      Brass accents in the toilets add an element of warmth
      On the first floor, mirror- and walnut-clad boxes create a series of interconnecting treatment rooms and corridors.
      “The treatment rooms needed to be highly clinical, sterile and very easy to keep clean,” said Lafferty. “Hygiene was of the utmost importance to the client. So we wanted to find a balance so that it didn’t feel cold and unwelcoming.”

      Blue terrazzo counters the sterility of the stainless steel
      Lozenge-shaped mirrors were added to disrupt the rooms’ clean lines and add softness, while subtle colour changes were introduced through a blue tone in the terrazzo and a hint of green in the textured plaster walls and ceilings.
      A seamless, full-height wall of walnut wood was added to the corridor outside the treatment rooms to contrast against the steel cabinetry and add warmth to the upper floor.
      Health and self-care was a central theme in another of KLD’s recent refurbishment projects. Earlier this year, the studio incorporated green walls, a yoga studio and rooftop terrace into a co-working office in Belfast to help workers unwind.
      Photography is by Ruth Maria Murphy.

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      Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe designs Utrecht care facility like a boutique hotel

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      Domstate Zorghotel is a rehabilitation centre in Utrecht, the Netherlands, designed by Dutch studio Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe to give patients a hotel experience.Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe deliberately approached the interiors of the 84-bed health facility like they were creating a 4-star hotel to give patients a more comfortable stay.
      “Unlike similar ‘healing environments’, this care hotel is designed from the user’s perspective,” said the studio.
      “The interior actively participates in the rehabilitation process of the patients,” they added. “From small interior accessories to large spatial gestures, everything is focussed on the process of healing.”

      Top: the care facility has 84 bedrooms. Above: a grand piano sits in the lobby

      In the patients’ rooms elements such as a mirror, a shelf and a headboard hang from a curved rail on the wall on thick leather straps. As well as providing a striking visual element, the rail can be used for rehabilitation exercises.
      Straps on handles and peepholes placed at different levels cater to patients with different levels of mobility.

      Door handles have accessible straps
      To add to the boutique hotel vibe, each floor of rooms has a different colour scheme.
      Colour is a central part of making the interiors feel less institutional. The lobby features a grey-blue curving reception desk and rounded seating with a mustard-yellow base.

      Parking for mobility walkers and plants
      Fabric curtains on rails can be used to screen areas off and a grand piano can be used for practices and performances.
      Graphic markings on the floor mimic different floor finishes and change colour according to the area, such as blue in the lobby, green in the dining room and pink in staff areas.

      Staff areas are also colourful
      In Domstate Zorghotel’s restaurant, a curving green unit provides a discreet place to park wheelchairs and walkers. Rooms such as this are designed to subtly encourage guests to practise for real-world situations when they leave.
      Plants spill out of boxes in the built-in dividers and seating areas.

      Colourful patterns cover the floors
      Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe were careful to make sure the staff areas are fun and comfortable too.
      A pink curved multi-level banquette screened by plants in pink planters forms an attractive place for employees to sit outside of their desks. Geometric markings in the pink floor add interest to another staff area.

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      “In the areas of the building where employees work, it’s OK for them to colour outside the lines,” said Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe.
      “The design for these areas is aimed at making the most of innovation and diversity in day-to-day work.”

      Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe designed the facility to be fun
      Van Eijk & Van der Lubbe was founded in 1998 by Dutch designers Miriam van der Lubbe and Niels van Eijk. Their previous work includes a mirrored concept car and the refurbishment of a concert hall in Eindhoven.
      Domstate Zorghotel has been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the leisure and wellness interior category, alongside a children’s hospital in Thailand and an underground spa in New York.

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