Graphic floor tiles, a pigmented cement desk and curved leather chairs feature in this New York pharmacy, which local firm Sergio Mannino Studio has designed to accompany an online prescription service.
Sergio Mannino Studio completed the pharmacy in Brooklyn for Medly – an app launched to offer a more efficient and enjoyable way for New Yorkers to order prescription medication.
Along with a delivery service, the Medly Pharmacy on Graham Avenue allows users to collect their prescriptions ordered online, and organise face-to-face consultations with professionals.
"Medly has designed a free complementary app that saves customers the hassle of having to leave the house when sick, let alone having to wait in line for hours just to get prescriptions," said New York-based studio Sergio Mannino. "But a successful online business needs a physical counterpart and our design for Medly has been created with this in mind."
Takings cues from Medly's green and white branding, Sergio Mannino Studio employed an aqua colour palette across the pharmacy's waiting room.
Mint-painted walls are paired with cement floor tiles created by Spanish designer Jaime Hayón for Bisazza, featuring rounded colourful shapes that match the brand's logo. Subtle green pigments fade up the custom-made reception desk at the back of the space.
"The design is both playful and elegant; a buffed custom-made cement counter with clean geometric tiles as part of a light aqua colour scheme," said the studio.
Dark green vinyl leather and chrome cover two benches, which the studio says are a "tribute" to 20th-century Japanese designer Shiro Kuramata. The seats each accommodate four people, two on either side, and are arranged to encourage conversations between customers.
"As community is a key value of Medly pharmacy, we ensured our design was tailored to include this," said Sergio Mannino Studio. "The nature of the small space means that customers will instinctively connect with each other and with the staff, unlike larger pharmacies that inadvertently separate people through high aisles and sheer size."
Other details include a delicate white shelf built along one wall to display prescriptions in Medly's styled branding and a round white pendant lamp.
A corrugated, perforated screen runs along the rear wall to partition off the administration area, where the prescriptions are sorted. In total, the space measures 1,900 square fee (177 square metres).
The Medly Pharmacy follows a number of drugstores that have used interior design as a way to subvert clinical stereotypes. Examples include a pharmacy in Taiwan featuring greenery, glass shelves and copper details, and another in Tokyo decorated with pale oak walls and muted furnishings.
Photography is by Charlie Shuck and Sergio Mannino Studio
Project credits:
Design team: Sergio Mannino, Martina Guandalini
Architect of record: Stefano Morisi
Lighting: Lido Lighting
General contractor: Minas Construction