This distribution allows clients to have direct contact with the outside space, something unusual in dental clinics, even so, the architects had to establish some kind of system to maintain patient privacy and opted for a system of manipulable blinds in both directions, which allow the patient to hide, but that he has the sensation of seeing outer space.
The main material of the clinic is wood, which together with the white walls and neutral colors brings warmth. The differential point of the premises appears in the ceilings, designed for the client, which, based on slats, differentiate the different uses and clients of each area, adults, children or babies. Straight lines for adults, planets for children and clouds for babies. In this way, a space is generated at different scales that is lived in 3 dimensions.
Mun by Cronotopos Arquitectura. Photography by José Ángel Montero Villacampa.
Description of project by Cronotopos
When Laura, dentist specialized in children’s treatment, contacted Cronotopos to develop the design of her new clinic with different conditions to treat the little patients and make them enjoy the space, she arrived with a clear brand image, MUN, with concepts and ideas of Nordic inspiration, confronted with a more conventional distribution idea.
The main concept is based on a central distribution of services that makes use of the perimeter spaces. Thus, in the central part, and materializing in the form of an amoeba, the toilets, X-ray room, office, and sterilization room are distributed. In this way, we free the perimeter for the boxes, office and waiting room. This initiative, risky for a clinic use, allows patients to be in direct contact with the outside space, while normalizing and domesticating the clinic concept by bringing it closer to the passerby.
Maximum use is made of the openings to the outside, giving the clinic a greater presence and a communication between inside and outside that is not usual in a dental clinic, but which makes the work that takes place inside visible. To maintain the patient's privacy, a system of blinds is designed that can be manipulated in both directions, allowing the patient to be hidden but still have the sensation of seeing the outside space, the sky, the leaves of the trees, of looking up.
Mun by Cronotopos Arquitectura. Photography by José Ángel Montero Villacampa.
The central amoeba, in addition to functioning as a distribution space in terms of uses and facilities, also becomes a space for interaction. From it, different elements are deployed that enrich the space and receive the patient, generating spaces in which you can sit, which you can climb, from which you can see.
It highlights a cylinder that enhances the height of the room and is part of a play area. This cylinder is connected to the amoeba through an intermediate slab, which "shelters" the patients during their waiting, changing the scale of the space, and through an upper slab, which frames it, both paneled in wood.
Wood appears as the main material of the premises, providing warmth, together with white walls and neutral colors that enhance the cleanliness of a clinic. In the boxes, this concept of cleanliness is maintained in all work surfaces, with the differential point appearing in the ceilings. These surfaces are the protagonists for the patients, which adopt different shapes through slats, adapting to the interests of each of the users of each box: adults, children or babies.
Mun by Cronotopos Arquitectura. Photography by José Ángel Montero Villacampa.
The first, with straight-lined and more sober slats, is intended for adults. The second, where the slats adopt curved shapes that blend with planets and a starry sky, generates a scenario for children. The third is shown with cloud-shaped slats, more baby-friendly.
It is worth mentioning the generation of different paths in the workflows. On the one hand, the patient route, with access from the fluid distribution space. On the other hand, the workers' route, which is duplicated with an internal communication of the boxes, parallel to the facade line.
Architecture and furniture have been sought in a perfect balance. The service and machinery spaces are hidden behind integrated and hidden doors through a wooden paneling that surrounds the central amoeba generating a continuous skin. The furniture and architecture adapt to the different scales of adults and children, generating a phenomenological space that is experienced in three dimensions.
