Cairo Hair Clinic

Located in one of the most promising projects of Cairo, the Walk of Cairo compound lodges this new clinic specialized in hair transplant and other esthetical interventions. The Walk of Cairo is mixed-use, large-scale project that houses a well-structured mall, various museums, high-end restaurants and a number of other destinations. The clinic lays on a single floor, has two opposite facades and separate entrance and exit gates. Past the entrance, an info desk with the waiting lounge welcome the patients, and directly connects to two consultations rooms. These are separated by an automated movement-censor sliding door from the rest of the clinic which is dedicated to the treatment and operations. This more private and sterile zone is home to five treatment rooms each with an individual resting space for patients, a sterilization room, a photo studio, a staff lounge and kitchenette, a shaving room and a lavatory.

The location being extremely lively and upscale, it required a distinguished design that would live up to the expectations of the owners who requested a futuristic yet calming design that is harmonious and imposing. The program being quite demanding, the architects studied the various alternatives of an efficient zoning according to the required functions. Thus, the sterile and pre-sterile horizontal zoning. Then, the daylight being a crucial element to consider in the design, rooms that require direct access to daylight were prioritized as compared to the others that do not necessarily need it. The plot being frankly rectangular, the sharp corridor cut was eased to a light diagonal that promises interesting perspectives and enlarges the overall space with this optic illusion.

The character of a hair transplant and esthetics clinic has special requirements and spaces. These are mainly related to the nature of the interventions that take place in it that are considerably longer than the average doctor appointment in other specialties. These shaped the actual architectural intervention of the designers as they made sure to include secluded waiting areas within the treatment rooms for the patients who undertake long procedures. The patients therefore get to wait in complete privacy and comfort while resting before continuing with their treatments. Generally, these occur informally within the treatment rooms with no physical separations which concerned the owners from a hygienic point of view. Indeed, the pandemic re-imposing the hygiene question led the designers to come up with an alternative that would fit coherently in all the treatment rooms without consuming much of the available area. These small units are destined to a single-usage at a time and are equipped with a television, an elegant tray table and a comfortable seating element. These are separated by sliding doors to ensure the privacy and hygiene of the patients. Being small in size, these secluded waiting areas are each painted in a tone of green. This color choice is presumably based on the relaxing psychological virtues of green on the spirits of patients.

The treatment rooms themselves are designed to serve the demands of both the medical staff which will be the main daily user of the spaces and the patients. As mentioned previously, these procedures can last for long hours and as a distraction, the architects have implemented in-ceiling televisions that would be facing the patients in a laying position. All the while, each operating room is elevated by a graphic work on one of the walls that subtly accompanies the design of these.

Overall, a whitish palette was preferred for this project to emphasize the sterile environment of the clinic. Simultaneously, an omnipresent usage of lighting elements was adopted to bring out the volumetric work of the spaces and passively guide the users throughout the space. The same mentality shaped the shaving room which itself lodges an external self-illuminated exhibitory niche for products and art objects, and an internal full wall sticker that connects visually to the patients who get their hair washed with a pleasant message. Healthcare spaces design can be challenging due to the variety of specialties which in a way inspires the architects to stretch their anticipatory abilities and thus broaden the possibilities of a holistic design that often ends up going beyond the initial expectations of the clients.