Talk about hospital visits or clinic appointments, and most of us will shudder at the very thought of even stepping into those places. Delicate medical procedures and scary health news aside, the medical setting alone plays an important part in ensuring your patients feel comfortable enough to dutifully tend to their scheduled sessions or ask questions about their health.

In the past, nobody ever thought about medical settings requiring interior design since hospitals and clinics seemed to be a place of sickness, sorrow and death. Fast forward to the present, many medical centres are now built with aesthetically pleasing designs in mind due to the increasing need for an effective yet conducive and welcoming space.

After all, a happier and more comfortable patient dwelling or visiting your medical centre means speedier recovery, which also contributes towards a better impression of your hospital or clinic.

That said, time to skip the boring or monotonous clinical settings — let’s make way for these top 7 clinic design ideas!

Importance of Interior Aesthetics on Medical Centres

You may wonder about the importance of having a better medical centre design and whether it is worth investing so much thought, effort, and not to mention, money to create a pleasant looking space. It wasn’t a norm in the past, so why should it be a norm now right?

However, there are great advantages to improving your medical space’s interior aesthetics. It may be considered a small detail, but it is this small detail that will bring about huge positive changes to your medical facility and business.

Comfortable, Secured Atmosphere

Your patients are experiencing pain and suffering — well, most of them who visit your medical centre are, at least. Why not provide them an environment where they can feel safe and comforted despite their predicaments?

Your medical centre design can affect your patients’ overall wellbeing and mental psyche. A comfortable and secured space will enhance positive moods among them, allowing them to recover better.

Promoting Trust and Reliability

It is a widely known fact that the first impression matters, whether it is your clothes fashion, the type of car you drive, and even your hospital and clinic design is not left out. 

When you have a good looking design in place, this tends to establish a sense of trust between you and your patients since the type of interior you create within your medical facility will impact their judgment of your centre’s reliability.

Sense of Calmness

Most of the time, when patients suffer from illnesses or some form of pain, they usually feel anxious and stressed out. Your medical centre should exude calming vibes to make them feel more at ease and less worrisome. 

This can be achieved through an interior design that is soothing not only to the eye but also to the soul.

A Welcoming Ambience 

Admit it — when you go to a place that feels welcoming, chances are you’re more likely to return. The same principle applies to your clinic and hospital settings. 

When your interior design gives patients a warm and cosy feeling, not only do they feel better emotionally but also, you will likely see a higher customer retention, since your medical facility will be the first in their mind whenever they think about health checkups or diagnosing health issues.

7 Top Clinic Design Ideas & Trends

With the importance and benefits of having a good medical centre design in mind, let’s take a look at these 7 best design ideas and trends that are great for your medical facility:

#1 Vibrant Colour Theme

Whoever says all hospitals and clinics must abide by all-white or all-grey, gloom and doom kind of colour scheme? Your medical facility can be designed in fun, playful colours, just like any other space! 

Take a bolder step away from the conventional colours like white, grey or light blue, and opt for a more brilliant shade. The quirky green and blue colour and pattern as seen in this clinical setting in Washington, D.C. is proof that healthcare facilities can be trendy too.

#2 Spatial Adaptability

Spatial adaptability is all about the ability for a space to adapt under different circumstances by giving enough room and granting people some control to move about chairs easily for a short private respite. This may seem insignificant but this small flexibility lets your patients feel more at home.

One of the growing adaptable space trends in today’s medical centre design would be getting flexible furniture that you can easily maneuver, rearrange and store. Apart from providing comfort, having a highly adaptable space also prepares your facility in the event of high incoming or outgoing patient volume or emergencies.

#3 Good Lighting is the Key!

A dark room makes the place look sad and gloomy, while a bright room helps to uplift an individual’s mood. That is why installing a good lighting all over your medical facility is important to keep the place cheerful and enhance positivity in your patients.

A bright space also feels more warm and welcoming, which is much needed especially for a place like the hospital that has seen way too many painful scenarios. Your patients will also feel calmer in a brightly lit space, while your staff will enjoy a happier work environment.

#4 Spacious Entrance 

Entrances to clinics and consultation rooms used to be of standard door size, some narrower than that. Now, current trends lean towards a wider entrance, and it is for good reason too.

A large or spacious entrance makes your healthcare setting less cramped while enhancing the welcoming feeling among your visitors, especially the reception area. Your patients will feel more safe and comfortable to enlist your service and confide in you as the wide entrance subtly indicates the openness you have in listening to their health woes.

#5 Soothing Furniture Arrangement

Waiting areas in hospitals and clinics should be made comfortable and cosy as much as possible. Consider providing cushioned seats than hard plastic ones, and have the tables and chairs nicely arranged to provide a good flow of space and prevent areas from looking cluttered or messy.

Other parts of the hospital and clinic such as the reception area, consultation room, surgical theatres, wards, offices and more should also employ an ergonomic furniture arrangement to achieve a conducive medical space. This is not only for the benefit of the patients but also the staff themselves. 

#6 Clear Navigation

A hospital or a clinic can be a big building, and finding your way to a specific ward or room can be overwhelming without a clear navigation route. Endeavour to set up simple yet easy to understand maps and signage to direct patients and visitors to their intended destinations to improve their overall visit experience. 

Having a clear navigation system within your healthcare setting will boost your company brand image to be a medical centre that is visitor friendly. 

#7 Advanced Technology Integration 

Incorporating smart glass and smart film in hospital buildings and clinics has also become a popular trend due to the surprising benefits of the switchable glass technology in the healthcare industry. 

Smart glass and smart film provide the privacy you need such as preventing distractions from affecting patient’s recuperation, keeping check-ups and consultations private and also insulating against outside noise and view in certain high priority wards, to name a few. Additionally, this smart technology enables medical staff to monitor a patient’s progress from afar without risking contamination and infection, especially when dealing with highly contagious or infectious cases.

Multi-purpose Medical Spaces with Smart Glass & Smart Film

The Smart Glass and Smart Film technology’s underlying principle uses electricity to convert the state of the Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal (PLDC) film, alternating between opaque to transparent screen. There are many different types of Smart Glass and Smart Film, each suited to a variety of spaces based on individual purpose.

• More spatial control: With the application of this switchable privacy glass in medical centres, healthcare providers have more control in expanding and dividing segments within the building. At just a press of a button, a private area can be set up quickly to facilitate medical procedures or provide temporary waiting space for visitors. When everything is over, a touch of the button returns the screens back to transparent state.

• More hygienic: The easy, hassle-free usage of this switchable glass and film technology also makes it a more appealing and hygienic alternative to traditional blinds. You don’t have to worry about germs being trapped on the surface as healthcare staff can easily clean the flat, smooth panels.
  
• More aesthetically pleasing: Installing glass panels in buildings usually make the space more pleasant, modern and neat to the eye. Best of all, Smart Glass and Smart Film also come in many colours to up your interior design by a notch!

Chiefway Smart Glass and Smart Film for A Modern Clinic Design

We know that interior aesthetics in healthcare facilities are as important as in other types of buildings. A good medical centre design helps to provide both patients and staff a more comfortable and cheerful space to seek medical services and work, thus contributing to a happier medical space plus better branding in the long run.

If you are looking to build or renovate your hospital or private clinic, do give the above ideas and trends a thought or two. Review the design considerations and pick the best ones that will work for your space.

Want to know an easy way to transform or do a modern makeover to your medical building interior? Chiefway is here to help!

We specialise in manufacturing Smart Glass and Smart Film and providing these switchable glass and film installation services in Malaysia. With years of experience in the smart glass technology niche, we have assisted hundreds of clients across multiple industries in transforming their new and existing buildings into an environmentally friendly, cost-effective space.

When it comes to anything Smart Glass or Smart Film, you are in good hands with Chiefway. 

Talk to us today to find out more about our smart technology solutions!