Zenin - Uruha-in (clinic, daycare center, midwifery center)

Nara Prefecture, Japan

Photo © 山田　誠良

A dentist and his wife run a pediatric dental practice in Higashiosaka. As a new attempt by the wife, they decided to create a “pediatric dentistry + pediatrics + nursery + midwifery” complex, and purchased a Japanese-style house with a large garden in a quiet residential area in Nara Prefecture. Except for the rearrangement of the water supply and the addition of an X-ray room in the dentist's office, no flat changes were made to the building's original charm. The color of the material used for the overlay coating to remove stains from the polychrome wall was changed to a low saturation color so that the existing columns and beams would be visible, and the walls would be less assertive. In the entrance area, we proposed a new Japanese image by using a decorative material for the foundation, which is not normally used for Japanese-style room walls. In order to make the treatment part of the dental clinic feel as if the equipment had just been brought into a Japanese-style room, we simply applied vinyl floor tiles that look like tatami mats and installed indirect lighting in the transom. We hope that this will be a place where children can come and go and play in the building, which has a large garden and a sense of security like a house, and where they will have memories to cherish later.