How to transform healthcare spaces with warmth and comfort 

We don’t like going to the doctor. It’s uncomfortable for us and disrupts our routine when we feel healthy and attend preventively.

And let’s not talk about going to the dentist, which is terrifying to us.

Hospital wards and medical centers have always been cold. Aseptic. All in white without details. 

How many times have we been in a typical room, sometimes even all alone, waiting for the call of our name while we think about how unwelcoming it is to us. 

User experience is increasingly important

Some years ago, some aesthetic changes started to be introduced in wards, rooms and health spaces, thinking about the fear that many children have of doctors or those that, sadly, have to be in hospitals for a long time. 

They were transformed into more friendly, welcoming and comfortable spaces with games, colors and rounded shapes. With vinyl or paintings of animals and Disney characters, children’s stories, superheroes or children’s movies. 

Soon it was observed how the mood of these children changed drastically. Why not do the same with adults?

How to transform healthcare spaces to that transmit confort

Before, simply a functional space was designed. Without further ado. That’s why it was so cold. 

In a world in which the user experience is increasingly important, the trend in decoration and interior design of healthcare spaces is to create welcoming, friendly and domestic environments. 

That’s why, on this occasion, we are going to delve into three projects in the healthcare field where Metrowall has created spaces with style, comfort and harmony.

1. Mayo Dental Clinic.
2. Dental Clinic in Barcelona.
3. PEUS Podiatry Center.

In these three spaces, Metrowall products have been applied both in common areas – such as waiting rooms and circulation areas – and in private areas – the consultations.

In the common areas, the objective of installing our acoustic and decorative panels was to eliminate ambient noise and provide an aesthetic solution.

While in consultations, being intimate and private spaces that must guarantee the patient’s privacy, the Metrowall products chosen had to provide internal acoustic comfort, in addition to helping with acoustic insulation from the outside.

Well, privacy, in addition to being visual, must also be acoustic. Patients need to feel safe to express their concerns and health problems, knowing that they are in the strictest privacy.

For this reason, for the three projects the acoustic version of the Metrowall wooden panels was chosen, which are characterized by being a technical and, at the same time, decorative product to achieve an optimal space.

Mayo Dental Clinic

The Mayo Dental Clinic is based in Barcelona, but they have other centers in many other cities in Spain. This one is located in Diagonal Avenue at the height of Aragon street, a very busy place where ambient noise proliferates.

Aware of the importance for them that their patients feel in a comfortable, warm place, that conveys peace and at that, at the same time, protect their privacy, they decided top put on our hands this interior design project.

Functional and aesthetics objectives of the project “Mayo Dental Clinic”

In this interior project the main objective was to design the entrance space to the clinic with a proposal that unified the reception space and the waiting room, welcoming too to the patients who access the clinic. 

The Metrowall panels were installed on the walls and ceiling to frame the entrance counter and the waiting area, with personality, giving a decorative touch and  providing acoustic comfort in a place where there is constant movement and influx of people.

Metrowall solution for the Mayo Dental Clinic

We had an acoustic challenge: muffle the noise in the entrance area from the street, since it is a place with high influx of traffic, in addition to the already common movement of people. 

To solve this challenge it was decided to install Metrowall Acoustic Lines ´10 wood panels on the wall and ceiling, placed horizontally.

The pieces chosen are large format for both applications, minimizing visible joints as much as possible, these being very subtle and achieving an image of total continuity. 

Dental Clinic in Barcelona

For this project, the customer was looking for a smart solution, that provided acoustic comfort, and what better solution than Metrowall acoustic and decorative panels.

Functional and aesthetic objectives of the project “Dental Clinic in Barcelona”

To this dental clinic the objective was to design an elegant and restrained space that combined oak wood with neutral colors. 

Metrowall in an oak design was used as wall covering in the waiting room and circulation spaces, just as the access to consultations and services. This material was chosen for its decorative contribution, for being a good protection for walls, especially in movement areas, and for its acoustic comfort. 

Metrowall solution for Dental Clinic in Barcelona

In this case, the Metrowall Acoustic Lines ’10 coating was installed on walls and doors, placed in a vertical position. 

The acoustic challenge was to create a comfortable environment in waiting and circulation areas. 

Instead, to solve the decorative challenge, the walls were covered with large-format pieces and also the doors with Metrowall Acoustic Lines ’10 panels, achieving a continuous image and materiality along the distribution hallway.

Peus Podiatry Center

Located in Manresa, about 56 km from Barcelona, The Peus Podiatry Center was looking to creat clean spaces focused on the personal comfort of patients. 

Functional and aesthetic objectives of the project “Peus Podiatry Center”

The acoustic challenge was to create a comfortable environment in the medical consultations and spaces for the circulation for the people.

The decorative challenge, the elegance, almost minimalist, where there was a total commitment to Metrowall as the main wood covering.

Metrowall acoustic and decorative panels are a product that is commonly chosen for consultation spaces, as they help create an intimate and quiet environment at an acoustic level. They are also installed in the circulation spaces that give access to consultations.

Metrowall solution for the Peus Podiatry Center

This project is very interesting because, although it keeps the white color as subject, the Metrowall Acoustic Lines ’10 coating provides texture with its grooved surface, which breaks with what in advance, could have been a cold space.  

In this case, we find the covering installed on walls placed in a horizontal position. 

The result obtained with this is a clean and uniform space, which is complemented by the doors made with digital printing, giving it a very particular touch of style.

Going deeper into the details, it’s interesting to remark how the union between panels in the corner is solved, making a miter cut of the panels so that the union is clean and the continuity of the groove is total. Delicate and high-quality installation work is appreciated.

In this way, with the installation of Metrowall Acoustic Lines ’10 panels the area becomes into a welcoming and warm place for patients. 

Why choose Metrowall for healthcare centers

At Metrowall we strive for excellence, ensuring that the customer is satisfied with the final result and that the project objectives, whether they are acoustic conditioning – functional – or decorative.

For this reason, we carry out a process of continuous support and advice to the architect, interior designer, industrialist or installer in the necessary phases. This is what adds value to our brand, beyond the great quality of the product.

I. Continuous support and advice at project level:

1. We offer the most suitable product proposal at an acoustic level.
2. We advise on the application on walls or ceilings, depending on the space to be adapted and taking into account whether it is a comprehensive renovation, an existing space to complement, among others.
3. We provide suggestions at a decorative level, combining designs, composition of the whole or the possibility of offering several alternatives that complement each other and, in turn, allow differentiating spaces, but always providing global coherence.    
4. We offer the possibility of developing customized and unique products.

II. Continuous support and advice at technical level:

1. We study the possibility of adapting formats or measurements to facilitate installation, minimize material handling on site and achieve the best result.
2. We advise on the installation of our products.
3. We offer advice on the integration of lighting installations or air conditioning that can be integrated into our coatings.
4. We give advice on the conception and design of the project.
5. We offer the possibility of customizing products: we adapt measures to avoid the manipulation of material on site or we develop special products for a specific project.

Characteristics of Metrowall products for healthcare centers

1. High-end products.
2. High quality melamine, with a wide variety of combinable designs and textures.
3. Veneers made of natural wood and are available finished in oil, tinted, with fireproof varnish, others. Everything to the customer’s liking.
4. We offer as a support the black MDF base material, which provides a much more elegant visual result than the standard brown MDF, since it hides the perforations made in the panels to convert them into acoustic absorbers, and also offers a homogeneous black background.

Final result of the installation of Metrowall in healthcare spaces

The interior design initerventions carried out for the Mayo Dental Clinic, the Dental Clinic in Barcelona and de Peus Podiatry Center are a clear example of how, with Metrowall, we can go beyond the typical design of health centers.

With them we see that it’s possible to transform functional and cold spaces into friendly and comfortable places, where patients feel safe, combining aesthetic and design aspects with such an important point as acoustic confort.

At Metrowall we have high quality products, which offe a multitude of solutions to architects, interior designers, industrialists and installers in all phases of the work, and we also care about the project process.

For this reason, we offer complete support and advice, both at a technical level and at a project level.

For your next healthcare space project, think about Metrowall

Do you have the challenge of designing a healthcare space that transmits confort, warmth and has excellent acoustic conditioning?

We will be happy to share our knowledge and experience to make your project a success.