Synthesis Design + Architecture (SDA) has completed the YPMD Pediatric Neurology Clinic in Ladera Ranch. YPMD is a 2000sf private pediatric neurology clinic that challenges the banality of the typical utilitarian medical clinic with a unique design that incorporates color, texture, and geometry to create a light-filled and lively experience for both patients and staff.
The programmatic organization of the project divides the space into three zones of occupation - an open plan reception and waiting lounge with bespoke built-in window seating for visiting patients wrap a series of color-coded exam rooms with pass-through circulation, which are flanked by a back-of-house circulation corridor and staff spaces. This organizational strategy purposefully segregates staff and patient circulation paths, allowing the doctor and her staff to move between exam rooms freely without being disturbed by waiting patients while offering patients ample waiting space and express check-out circulation through the back-of-house corridor. The corridor itself doubles as a linear storage wall with back-lit sliding translucent panelite doors with an embedded capillary system.
The identity of the clinic is defined by the generous reception and waiting lounge, where dynamic and playful geometries are paired with bespoke patterns and textures to add both visual and tactile interest for children suffering from neurological disorders. The reception area includes a custom solid surface reception desk and a graphic feature wall computationally abstracted from a CT scan of a human brain and CNC-milled to reveal layers of marine-grade baltic birch laminated plywood. Custom origami-inspired geometric millwork is organized around four large windows to create a thickened wall with built-in seating. The mill-work is clad in a dense acoustic felt that is CNC cut with a custom pattern of grooved V-shaped cuts that gradiate in width, depth, and spacing. The felt offers multiple benefits, providing a soft ergonomic surface to sit on, integrating acoustic absorption to deaden the sound of children at play, and offering a tactile and protective finish to the millwork and its folded geometries.
Photography: Zack Matthews