Rubber carpeting, dingy drywall and old, louvered fixtures filled with cold fluorescent lights. Unfortunately, this is still the reality of many Polish hospitals, surgeries and clinics. Although modernization is underway, the interiors of health care facilities still do not have a good association, and not just because of the problems we see in them. The BaH studio studio, which designed the interior of an intake point at one of Diagnostyka+'s facilities in Krakow, is coming up against this state of affairs.
As a rule, the interiors of medical facilities do not encourage a visit to the doctor. For obvious reasons, it is not uncommon for public health facilities that do not undergo regular renovations to look the worst. The situation is slightly better for private facilities - these, however, are often designed in a generic, neat but bland way. Childhood experiences helped Matthew Bialek, founder of BaH studio, define the essence of the problem, and find optimal solutions:
I come from a medical family - both my mother and father are doctors. I often spent time after school in the doctor's office. Even then, I associated medical architecture with very unpleasant spaces, whose sterility, through the choice of materials and colors, repelled not dirt, but humans. When designing for Diagnostics+, we wanted to create an interior pleasant enough to make the patient feel as if he or she were entering his or her own home or a tastefully decorated café. With all this, we had to take into account the hygiene and sanitary regime; fortunately, modern materials allow us to maintain it, while being warm and pleasant to the touch. It turns out that white walls and cold light do not always have to reign in medical facilities. Interiors where people feel good help not only patients, but also doctors, whose charges enter the office in a better mood.
- Says Mateusz Białek, co-founder of BaH studio.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ collection center
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
architecture versus fear of the syringe
It has not been known for a long time that the interiors in which we stay have a significant impact on our well-being. A subdued, warm color scheme, complemented by vibrant plants, seems especially important in spaces such as the one developed by BaH studio - places where we usually come with problems, hoping for good news.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ collection center
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
Fear of the syringe (trypanophobia) is not just a stereotype - to a greater or lesser extent, uncertainty and even fear of performing tests is natural and affects many of us. In the fight against it can help not only properly trained staff, but also the appropriate design of the spaces where we face the fear. In the case of the BaH studio project, the mental state of male and female patients is supported in several different ways:
Plants in the waiting area and smaller pots in the offices bring an element of nature into the interiors, softening the impression of sterility. This is an example of biophilic design, whose benefits are confirmed by Center for Health Design research - the presence of greenery lowers blood pressure, has a calming effect and promotes tranquility.
- reads the interior description.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ intake point
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
color that soothes and informs
The color scheme is also not coincidental - this one is based on light, warm, largely earthy colors.
Earthy colors and wood textures have a soothing effect, reducing the tension accompanying the study. Large windows - both exterior and interior - bring in natural, diffused light, which research shows supports the healing process. Bright, non-slip ceramics on the floor ensure safety and hygiene, while visually enlarging the space, adding lightness and openness.
- explains the design team.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ collection center
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
The accent that breaks the wooden dominance is greenery - it seems to have not only an aesthetic role here, but also a symbolic one. Next to white, green is the color we first associate with medicine. The design team used it in two places - in the bathroom, where green tiles lined the floors and walls, and in the doctor's office, where green is primarily used for cabinets. In both places, the color can communicate the role the space plays and the degree of sanitary regime.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ collection center
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
multifunctional cube
The Krakow interior designed by BaH studio under the direction of Mateusz Białek is neither a showroom nor a design experiment. Diagnostyka+ has more than a thousand collection points across the country, so it was important to create a concept that would replicate the effect achieved in the first, prototype location. Among other things, the "BaH box" family of modular furniture was developed for this purpose :
"BaH boxes" are mobile and can serve a variety of functions: they can be used as seats, toy storage, racks for informational materials, plant pots or shelves. They create a flexible, scalable environment in which the space can be adapted to the changing needs of users.
- write the project's authors.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ collection center
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
The cubic modules are also not "glued" to the floor - if necessary, they can also hang on the wall. Nothing stands in the way of stacking one on top of the other, either, to create a slightly larger structure out of them, as in the case of the Cracow realization, where, for example, a registration desk counter was created out of BaH boxes. The mobility of the furniture elements can be extremely helpful in the case of younger patients, for whom a static environment certainly does not help when waiting for an examination. In the case of the Diagnostics+ intake point, the sliding furniture can become a cause for creative play, making the time spent in the waiting room pass much more quickly.
BaH boxes
© BaH studio
in a grid of modules
Modular cubes are not entities suspended in space - a whole environment has been prepared for them, into which BaH boxes fit like well-fitted blocks. The features of modularity are betrayed, for example, by the way the walls have been developed, which, with the help of wooden laths, have been divided into vertical, rectangular quarters. They fit not only square furniture, but also wooden or translucent panels, information boards or posters. Such a solution allows not only to dynamically modify the interior according to current needs, but also nullifies the need to produce customized elements and can facilitate the design process for future establishments.
Idea
© BaH studio
The forms of the cubic furniture are also reflected in other elements of the interior design - for example, in the grid of the aluminum ceiling, or the layout of the floor tiles. In turn, everything came from the Diagnostyka+ company logo, which the designers transformed and used in a creative and functional way.
The interior of the Diagnostyka+ collection center
Photo: Anna Laskowska © BaH studio
a box with a future
However, this is not the end of BaH boxes' possibilities - the essence of modularity is, above all, flexibility, so it probably won't end with the collection point:
It seems to me that BaH box is an idea not only for medical facilities, but for working with interiors in general. In the case of Diagnostics+, we used a monochromatic version, but nothing prevents us from enriching the color scheme for spaces where children will be present. BaH box can be a pouffe, a cabinet that opens or has drawers, or even a display unit. With a little ingenuity, it can be anything, because simple doesn't get boring.
- Matthew Bialek concludes.
