UHG

title: UHG
location: Toronto, Canada
use: medical center
size: 750 sm
completed: 2020
photographer: Maxime Brouillet

UHG is a project to renew the interior and exterior of an existing medical center in Toronto. The three-story facility houses interventional pain facilities on the ground floor, sleep disorder and pulmonary clinics on the second floor, and a physiotherapy clinic on the third floor.

Creating a soft and diffused environment was essential for both practicality and patient comfort in this medical facility. The ground and second-floor ceilings feature polished aluminum egg-crate panels that conceal lighting, ducts, and wiring. These aluminum ceilings generate a blurred reflection, flattening objects above and simulating an underwater view. The versatile layout provides flexibility for various spaces while ensuring diffused lighting. High-gloss white paint on walls further softens edges and blurs boundaries between areas. Sleep rooms on the second floor use fabric acoustic panels, backlit with coloured lights. Custom desks, crafted from honeycomb composite panels, harmonize with the ceiling’s aesthetic.

The third floor is an open space bathed in light from thirty circular fixtures that mimic warm, sunlit halos. Gently curved fabric walls separate a massage area. Overall, the design concept evokes the sensation of swimming underwater, offering visitors a sense of relief as they move between floors – akin to breaking through the water’s surface.