ODE Dermatology Clinic / Foolscap Studio

Despite a heritage overlay on the façade only, our studio elected to retain the entire double-brick shopfront and former residence (bar a small fiber cement board lean-to addition). This allowed us to restore original details and integrate them into a design that promotes the adaptive reuse of a Victorian building while adhering to stringent Australian regulations required for clinical treatment zones. Planning considerations were made for a dedicated staff room and nurse’s station, sterilization facilities, and the concealment of large medical equipment within custom joinery.

Maximizing its shopfront, ODE’s reception, and retail space (renamed ‘concierge’) acts as a beacon to passersby. Glowing, reflective, and opalescent surfaces are balanced by a dramatic, light-absorbing velvet curtain that leads clients down the clinic’s ‘spine’: a specially designed side extension, topped with a leafy lightwell. This intervention, as well as a ground floor extension to the rear, proved crucial to the functioning of the space and provided an opportunity to bring in diffused natural light and indoor greenery.

Clients await their consultations in the centrally located decompression lounge, furnished with designer pieces, soft textiles, and a lustrous, custom-designed houndstooth rug, while treatment rooms offer state-of-the-art therapies in elevated environments. A series of striking photographic prints throughout, heighten the multisensory journey.