Interior Design Principles for Aesthetic Clinics
The demand for aesthetic procedures around the world is soaring, and as the competition gets increasingly fierce, how will you distinguish your medical aesthetics practice from others? What can you do to reinforce your brand image and trustworthiness? We've been working on perfecting design ideas for medical practices that will help you build credibility and inspire patient confidence. Below we present a quick guide on how the power of design can help build the most functional, authentic and visually-pleasing medical aesthetics practices.
Not a Doctor’s Office, Not a Spa
Until recently, there was no clear distinction on how to design aesthetic clinics so that they don't look like a doctor's office, but don't feel like a spa either. Keeping the design too functional and formal, think typical medical practice, can make the patient feel stressed. If the design is too spa-like, it might not convey the level of medical expertise. A strong emphasis on beauty trends without the sense of medical science to back it up can result in the loss of confidence for the clinic. Finding the balance is not always easy, but is possible with thorough research and expert advice.
Room Divisions
The Waiting Room is the first opportunity to convey the image you want to project to your patients. In the case of aesthetics practice, our goal is to express the end-goal patients are there to achieve. Beauty, confidence, health, success, and wellness. We want the patient to feel like they've arrived, and using furniture that feels more like they've stepped into a hotel lobby instead of a medical office really helps convey that. Live plants, decorative lighting, soft furnishing, and other decor elements create an eye-pleasing atmosphere where the patients feel relaxed and at ease. The Treatment Room is primary. Here function supersedes form, but visual appearance still matters too. This is the room where the patient will likely have the highest level of angst, and we hope to minimize those nerves using unique design approaches to promote confidence and relaxation. Patient comfort is essential, but effective space planning and infrastructure are critical when it comes to making your practice work right. Patient flow, check in check out, privacy issues, electrical and data placement, avoiding traffic jams, and congestion must all be considered. 
Lighting & Color Pallets
The application of the right lighting and color pallets serves a strategic and functional role in the design of aesthetic clinics. The practical layout and configuration of the light points and the color temperature is a primary challenge for all medical clinics. We always opt for LED over fluorescent. Fluorescent lights flicker, which is irritating to the nervous system. While maximizing natural light sources are ideal, it's not always abundant in a commercial building, so the application of artificial light points is important. Think product displays, procedure lighting, and lighting for ambiance. A detailed lighting plan is crucial.
When it comes to color pallets, the aesthetic clinic design has been considerably predictable, keeping the dominant design color white. While this color strategy was adopted to emphasize sterility and cleanliness, it was not successful from the psychological perspective. Using a preplanned light-contrast scheme alongside the accented application of a more diverse color pallet can serve as an effective alternative to an all-white interior.Designing an aesthetic clinic can be quite a challenge. While functionality comes first, the visual representation should not be overlooked. The goal of the design should be a harmonious blend of function, comfort and visual appeal.Design Directions is a interior design & remodeling company, providing expert advice and professional design and construction services for medical & aesthetic clinics. If you are planning a new clinic or intend to remodel, we are here to help.