The first thing Dr Zhou told us, is that this space shouldn’t at all seem like a dental office. But, of course, it must in fact be
a dental office, and a sophisticated one at that. This is the strange place we
find ourselves in with so many of our current health care spaces, a widening
cleft between the spatial tectonics and mechanics of care delivery, and the
experience of receiving care, of being a patient, of being a person in these
places. Dr Zhou told us that she would often see older patients, in agony with
severely diseased teeth who urgently needed emergency dental care because they had been too nervous, felt too uncomfortable, to seek regular preventative care throughout their lives. Dental offices, in their typical pragmatic sterility,
often signal a priority for procedure over patient. As such, to suggest that a
place ‘feels like a dental office’ is so universally pejorative as to imply the
worst aesthetics and experiences of modern life. It is a massive failure on
architectural terms, our built environment endangering our bodies by neglecting
the impacts of the spaces we inhabit, particularly while seeking care. CoZy Dental in San Francisco proposes another
way, reimagining the dental office as something more like a home - perhaps near a beach, perhaps around sunset. It is a place of comfort, a place of care, a
place that reprioritizes the experience of being seen as patients.



The 1,138sf dental office inhabits the corner of a newmixed-use housing development in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood. Working with an extremely tight budget, we make opportunistic use of unconventional
building materials in order to create a relaxed, peaceful vibe within a new housing development for state-of-the-art dental care. This constraint invited us to work against type, challenging conventions such as the dropped ceiling. Rather than deploying the ubiquitous T-grid, we establish a rhythm of wood posts and beams, undulating to absorb mechanical ducting, plumbing lines, light fixtures, and electrical lines. These beams create a sculptural surface,draped with low-cost textiles - a reappropriated building rainscreen house wrap-introducing soft textures and colors. The ceiling is a focal point of design effort, as patients spend most of their visits staring straight up. The beams turn down against the walls, transforming into a shelving armature for plants, books, toys, and other objects.


Varieties of wood textures define the layout, producing warmth and grain though grided screen doors, rounded fluted wall panels, and finish grade plywood mill work.  Rather
than full height enclosures, the staggered enclosures settle well below the ceiling to provide natural light into the deepest, while providing a sense of connection and expansiveness. Meanwhile, a sunburst gradient of paint washes across the walls, creating continuity between spaces while giving a distinct character to each zone. CoZy Dental is an exploration of the notion that excellent health starts with creating the environment for care - for both the
person and the condition.


Interior Architecture: SAW

Photography: Alanna Hale