: Healthcare

: Kawasaki, Japan​

: ISHIKAWASAMBO

: 2025

: Ioto Yamaguchi

Tucked into a quiet corner of the newly renovated St. Marianna Medical Hospital in Kanagawa, the temporary Sugao Dental Clinic is anything but makeshift - this pop-up clinic pairs visual clarity with warm materiality, transforming a transitional space into a thoughtfully crafted healthcare environment.

 

Despite its impermanent nature, every interior design element reflects long-term thinking, balancing patient comfort, workflow efficiency, and material responsibility.

 

At the heart of the plan lies a central hub that accommodates reception, administration, and laboratory functions. This core zone is wrapped in a tactile, recycled textile sheet, introducing a soft, warm contrast to the otherwise high-contrast, clinical palette. The same muted color appears in the Louis Poulsen PH 5 pendant light—a visual echo of the staff uniforms, grounding the space in subtle cohesion.

 

Rather than defaulting to sterile tropes, the design embraces modularity and material honesty. Fluted acrylic panels act as semi-transparent dividers between treatment rooms and doors, offering both privacy and gentle light diffusion without the heaviness of frosted glass. To complete these bespoke partitions, custom 3D-printed corner joints were produced in-studio—a creative, resourceful solution to the absence of suitable off-the-shelf fittings.

 

Flooring materials were chosen with both aesthetics and function in mind. A crisp white floor runs through common areas, enhancing brightness and a sense of openness. In contrast, graphite-grey flooring defines the treatment rooms and lab zones—an intentional move informed by consultations with dental professionals, who noted that darker flooring improves the visibility of dropped tools.

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Though temporary in structure, Sugao Dental Clinic is a study in purposeful impermanence. Modular, cost-effective materials were selected to ensure ease of dismantling and minimal waste at the end of the clinic’s lifecycle. Practicality, however, is never divorced from beauty. Instead, it is embedded in every detail—proof that design, even when temporary, can be thoughtful and adaptive.