Located on a Sydney’s high-end retail street, the actual space and the brief posed interesting challenges to Pedra Silva Architects. Aesthetics is something that can commonly be mistaken as an additional, cosmetic layer to design, but here the aesthetic is a clear response to problem solving.

In this case, the brief requested two reception points with two entrances that could both function separately without compromising the sense of open space and its relationship with passers by. A further problem was presented with a stubborn structural column that imposed itself in the original space. The solution? Magically making the column disappear!

To achieve this, Pedra Silva created a sculptural wooden element that serves as a filter between the two reception areas. This element serves a dual function in allowing for partial vision between spaces by separating them and at the same time making the concrete column vanish!

Built from suspended wooden planks that start with narrow elements that then widen to engulf the existing column, this element is a response to a premise and serves as the predominant feature in the space.

The remaining space of the clinic is arranged around a central corridor that starts in the reception area and connects to all the intricate parts of the dental clinic. In the middle of this corridor is a transparent central core made of glass, allowing for the spread of natural light to penetrate the interior of the space.

At the clinic’s fare end is the main surgery, where advanced oral procedures are performed. As a national reference in the dental arena, the client Dr Christopher Ho requested that this space be designed in a way that would allow procedures be to observed by peers. This was achieved through the placing of an observation room on a higher level with a large window facing the surgery.

Faced with a complex brief and non-traditional space, Pedra Silva Architects crafted a design that flows and inspires. The dentist surgery is not a place one traditionally expects to find aesthetic beauty, yet the result of this brief is no normal dentist surgery.

Pedra Silva Architects
pedrasilva.com