Odontology Clinic
Orlāndia, Brazil
MMBB

Throwing out conventional wisdom about what a dental clinic should look like

© Nelson Kon

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By John E. Czarnecki, Assoc. AIA

The client for this dental clinic chose a corner lot in a residential neighborhood for the clinic. Most of the surrounding single-family homes are about 50 years old, with front verandas and tile roofs.

The architect’s sophisticated solution picks up on lessons from the neighboring Brazilian vernacular without mimicking the surrounding homes stylistically. It is approximately the same height as they are, maintains a similar relationship to the street, and is constructed of materials that are consistent with theirs. The clinic’s inviting covered portico is a transition space from the public sidewalk to the front door in a manner similar to the verandas of nearby homes that serve as transition spaces between street and house.

Taking a lesson from the neighboring homes built with a lower level, allowing humidity to rise, the clinic is composed of two floors with the lower one partially underground and partially covered by the overhang of the one above. The lower floor is naturally ventilated with operable windows. The upper floor, which from the back of the building appears simply to be a raised, floating platform seven steps above ground level, is air-conditioned with floor-to-ceiling single-pane glazing.

Upon entering the portico, visitors ascend the concrete steps to the upper floor—the only floor that the public has access to—devoted primarily to a reception area and two dental exam offices. The lower level, with a separate, private entrance, has laboratory, equipment, and administration spaces. The street-level north elevation, with an imbuia wood brise-soleil for sunshading, evokes imagery of the older, pile-supported structures of São Paulo. An expressive poured-in-place concrete wall on the western edge of the building, which changes character as sunlight and shadow move across it, separates the street from the portico paved in Portuguese mosaic tile. A grid of steel columns supports the structure, and the single-pane glazing is connected to the floor and ceiling with simple steel brackets.

Implementing a modest palette of materials in a beautifully detailed structure, the architects offer an example of sumptuous spaces for a dental clinic that would make most American dentists drool with envy. Climate differences and American standards of building construction and accessibility would require variations to a design such as this, but that shouldn’t stop architects from reconsidering the impact of physical space in the dental visit.

See the July 2002 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Odontology Clinic

Location:
Orlândia, Brazil

Gross square footage:
1937 sq ft

Total construction cost:
$50,000

Owner:
JOÃO GOMES PEREIRA FILHO E MARIANA M. RODRIGUES PEREIRA

Architect:
MMBB
rua General Jardim, 482/142
Vila Buarque
01223 010, São Paulo, SP, BRASIL
phone 00 55 11 3237 2311
fax 00 55 11 3256 4477
mmbb@mmbb.com.br