A modern integrated approach to healthcare and wellness required a calm, modern space that enables a skilled team of practitioners and their clients to flow through comfortably and efficiently. Offering chiropractic, massage therapy, acupuncture, physiotherapy, yoga, and pilates, the two-level, 269 square metre multidisciplinary facility had to be inviting, beautiful, and flexible in circulation, lighting, and spatial program.

One-on-one treatments occur in six private naturally-lit sound attenuated treatment rooms. Class instruction or treatments involving larger equipment are accommodated in the 52 square metre mezzanine studio that is open to the clinic below, and features corner floor-to-ceiling glazing overlooking the street. The bright and generous reception and waiting area accommodates busy client flows at peak times. A series of intersecting curved walls and bulkheads unite the irregularly-shaped shell into a contiguous space where horizontal compression indicates a shift from public to semi-private space. The column-free reception area is achieved by hanging the mezzanine’s steel structure from the concrete slab above.

Dimmable large diameter round LED panels throughout the clinic as well as LED pendant rings in the double-height curved corridor and work area allow lighting levels to be customized based on preferences of the practitioner and the form of treatment. Both the curved entry vestibule wall and the central reception and meeting room are clad in vertical wood slats, adding warmth and colour to the calm, modern material palette. Designed as an integrated component of a LEED-Gold-targeted mixed-use residential and office building on a former industrial site, design decisions were made with an emphasis on sustainability. A glazed vestibule and permanent entry system, heat pump mechanical system with heat recovery ventilation, and low-flow plumbing fixtures

Flooring consists of wide-plank hickory and cork in treatment areas, and a combination of three tones of wide-plank ceramic tile in reception and service spaces. The reception desk and standing work area exhibit white quartz stone, with lower desk work surfaces in textured grey laminate. Wood grille walls consist of dark-stained pine, and curved railings and guards are built with local Douglas fir. Mechanical ducting and piping are exposed and painted in intense dark blue above a 24”x24” open T-bar grid. The complex curved steel mezzanine and stair structure was fabricated off-site and assembled in-place while all wood components including grilles and guard caps were custom built on-site.