Atelier Carle reimagines the traditional medical clinic through OAKV, a project that embodies warmth, intimacy, and care in equal measure.Located in a Toronto suburb within a generic business complex, the 700-square-metre clinic departs from the sterile conventions of healthcare interiors, instead embracing a design approach that humanizes the clinical experience through light, texture, and spatial clarity.
Confronted with a site defined by limited natural light and minimal privacy, the Montreal-based studio began by rethinking the spatial organization. The layout is anchored by a central double-height volume, an architectural gesture that establishes both hierarchy and openness. Above, a large skylight diffuses a soft, diaphanous light across the interior, bathing the core of the clinic in a glow that enhances its sense of calm and expansiveness. Around this central space, treatment areas are arranged in layers, balancing accessibility with discretion and creating a clear progression from public to private zones.
At the entrance, walnut cladding immediately introduces a tone of understated warmth. The material's richness counteracts the site's utilitarian exterior of concrete and parking lots, signalling a retreat from the everyday. This tactile palette continues throughout, with the natural depth of timber grounding the design in a sense of comfort and permanence.
