Planning your Medical Space is not just a visual exercise; it covers the senses of every user that it will come in contact with. That is the essence of an environment, and the sooner you approach the process as such, the better the experience will be.
Creating a clean and fresh environment is part and parcel of curating the pleasant experiences your Medical Space will offer. A beautiful office that reeks of toxic paint odor and feels stuffy is surely bound to turn people off no matter how visually stunning is the space.
Read through this blog to know how simple considerations in your choices can make for a complete environment that looks good, smells good, and feels good.
Detox by Design
When choosing finishes for your walls, floors, and cabinetry, watch out specifically for one particular item that should impact your decisions. VOC or Volatile Organic Compound is a noxious substance found in construction materials that causes a whole lot of health problems. Symptoms could be as simple as irritation in the eyes, nose, throat, dizziness or nausea but prolonged exposure to VOC can cause liver damage and affect the Central Nervous System. Be aware of the toxicity levels of materials you use for renovation and the health risks they pose. This knowledge will help you make enlightened decisions about what to use and what not to use. It may be tempting to choose based solely on looks – choosing from hundreds of color swatches and wood samples, or even cost-efficiency. Bear in mind that the extra cost of Zero VOC is minimal when compared to the long-lasting effects.
Choosing the Right Air Fresheners
What does a pleasant smell like? If your brand smells like something, what would it be? Choosing the right air freshener for your space may seem innocent but it can round off what people see to what they smell and how they feel.
Like our notice on VOC’s earlier, we urge you to go beyond scents. Read through the composition of these air fresheners and be on the lookout for similarly harmful substances. Whether it be candles, reed diffusers or electric humidifiers, these air fresheners usually have oil-based scents. It will be better if they are organic and naturally sourced rather than synthetic scents loaded with tons of chemicals. Like in food – read the ingredients of your air fresheners and do some research before committing to a particular brand and scent.
Air it Out
We tackled detoxifying the materials for interiors and commercial solutions for freshening the air in your space. Our next advice is probably the most basic: airing your spaces out and getting the air flowing with effective circulation. Stagnant air is never healthy and can make a room feel stuffy. Air conditioning by nature circulates air by recycling the air inside. Many newer models offer a purifying feature that actively filters out smells and other contaminants. Look out for these features when planning, specifying and installing this equipment.
We are advocates of using quiet exhaust fans. Just as in restrooms, you can place a quiet exhaust fan other areas that have a tendency to get stuffy, such as the breakroom. Feel free to read more about our opinion on break room design here.
Once again, there is no better insight than first-hand observation. Walk through your space; trace the steps of your clients and observe the air quality of your spaces. See if there are rooms for improvement from the advice we have listed above. Remember that air quality is not just an issue of comfort but a practical requirement that lets you and your office perform at a higher level. Trust that improving the indoor air quality is not just elevating your performance but the overall experience of your medical space into one that truly heals.
