岩石之韵 | Vancouver AeR Skinlab 皮肤科诊所的宁静设计

Location: 1540 W 2nd Ave unit 207, Vancouver, BC V6J 1H2, Canada

Design: Leckie Studio

Client: AeR Skinlab

Fabrication Collaboration for Ceiling Installation: Tangible Interaction

Floor Area: 82 sq-m

Vancouver's AeR Skinlab dermatology clinic evokes calm and groundedness through its spatial reinterpretation of rocky landscapes.

Key features

Three treatment rooms, a consultation space, and a reception area make up AeR Skinlab's 82-sq-m flagship location, which is in Arthur Erickson's Waterfall Building. Tapped to develop a rejuvenating interior for clients to 'return to a more elemental state of being', Leckie Studio turned to the stillness of geology for inspiration – and other creators who have similarly been inspired by it. The clinic space references Edward Burtynsky's photographic series Quarries, as well as Matthew Barney's The Order, from his art-film Cremaster 3.

Marble sourced locally from Vancouver Island clad the walls, finished in a raked pattern that calls to mind Zen gardens. The space's existing storefront glazing was replaced with fluted glass, a detail that runs in parallel to the textured walls. Back inside the space, a diffused-light installation crafted from Tyvek filaments represents the power of water, and its weathering effect on stone.

Frame's take

Greenery may be the first thing that comes to mind when you think biophilia, but it's far from the only natural element to do the trick. Indeed, in Frame 141, we noted the budding trend of geological spaces against the backdrop of a chaotic world and desire for greater connection with nature. 'The emerging taste for dusty, cavernous desert dwellings (comparable to the more prosaic popularity of “bunkers”) reflects a desire for spaces that expand or freeze time,' Rosamund Picton and Kourosh Newman-Zand wrote in the issue's Look Book. 'Yet in the Modern Stone Age apparent stillness is the bait that camouflages change immemorial.' An all-stone interior brings forth a totally different feeling than a one lush with greenery but is an excellent mediation between nature and clinical space in particular. The bonus, in this case, it's that it's all local.