Ren Pepe Arquitetos has converted part of a former bank in Porto into a dental surgery, featuring geometric patterns that reference the city's many tiled frontages (+ slideshow).
The dentists resides on the first floor of a five-storey building located in the centre of the Portuguese city.
Local firm Ren Pepe Arquitetos – which is led by architects Ren Ito and Alessandro Pepe – sought to give the clinic a distinctive aesthetic and looked to its surroundings for inspiration.
"There are plenty of tile-rendered buildings in this area and we wanted to use one of these tile patterns in our design," Ito told Dezeen. "Our design concept is inspired by one such design: the windmill."
This motif is made up of tessellating triangles – similar to the facade of a recently renovated apartment building elsewhere in the city. The architects applied it to the interior walls and furnishings, but also integrated it into light fittings, doors and screens.
"The challenge of this project was coordinating everything from the plan to the section's incorporation of this pattern," Ito explained.
The clinic comprises five treatment booths and a waiting room. Patients and staff enter the building via the ground floor and can choose to take the stairs or a lift up to the first floor.
Upon arriving at the waiting area, visitors are faced with a reception desk decorated with triangles in two colours. There are also a series of custom-made wooden benches, which feature the three-sided shapes on their sides.
Public toilets are neatly tucked away to one side of the reception desk.
The five treatment booths are located just beyond the waiting room, behind a door that also features the windmill motif.
These booths are divided up by freestanding screens, and each space has its own window to allow plenty of natural light and ventilation.
A small office, locker room and private restroom are also provided within staff quarters.
The triangles that feature on the walls throughout the clinic are created using three materials – plasterboard, PVC plastic, and a Portuguese wool known as Burel, which provides acoustic insulation.
Lighting fixtures sit within recessed sections that run along the edge of the ceiling.
Photography is by Ricardo Loureiro.
Project credits:
Creative directors: Ren Ito, Alessandro Pepe
Designers: Michela Piddiu, João Ramos, Cátia Cunha, Marta Machado, Ricardo Leitão
