Attic Light Architects completed the CIFAR Boutique Fertility Center as a calm and welcoming environment for patients in Gurugram, India.

Healthcare centers are crucial to design as they require a detailed resolution of services and technical expertise along with a soothing design language owing to the stressed psychology of the patients and their family members. It becomes imperative to be sensitive and sensible while creating such spaces, and Attic Light Architects have aimed to cater to this very premise while designing their recently completed IVF Centre.

CIFAR – Center for Infertility and Assisted reproduction is a luxury healthcare project with blush and bleach hues located on Golf Course Road, Gurgaon, India. Spread over three floors of a 2500 SqFt property, this boutique IVF center is designed to exude a feeling of freshness and vibrance with a minimalistic spatial language.

Functionally, the zoning is done by placing the OPD (Out-Patient) areas and the formal areas including conferences, waiting lounge and nurse’s stations on the lower floor partitioned with aluminum framed glass. The IPD (In-Patient)/ surgical/sterile areas are placed on the upper floor with minimal patient access. All the additional services like the AHUs, Panel Room, UPS Room, Gas Manifold Room, and the Staff areas are distributed on the terrace floor above for ease of maintenance and workability.

Dr. Puneet Rana Arora, the founder of CIFAR, wanted a calm and comforting space for her patients. She preferred a color palette with salmon color accents and vibrant hues as opposed to the dull blues and greys of a hospital. She wanted the architects to design the space from a patient centric perspective with reduced staff dependance.

Along this brief, the architects decided to design the OPD floor around natural light, clear axes for patients and staff along with optimized circulation. The space had the advantage of large windows in the front and back of the property and the architects leveraged this by locating the reception right in the middle, upon the front entrance flanked by the waiting lounge on one side and the consultation rooms on the other. The generous use of glass as partition walls between the rooms allowed natural light to penetrate through. This resulted in an open plan design of the reception floor with maximum permeability of natural light and enhanced user experience.

Natural light in a healthcare space, not only aids illumination, but also affects the psychology of the patients positively. Most IVF patients come feeling dejected and stressed – vibrant hues with natural light act as an antidepressant and helps in bringing out calmness and restfulness in the patients while visiting the doctors. An open plan really helps in finding and making a visual connection while reducing the dependence on staff to guide their patients.

While the Out-Patient floor was designed around user experience, the In-Patient floor was entirely designed based on functionality and sterility. IVF procedures require a very high level of sterility in the lab and theaters along with temperature and humidity control. To achieve this, movement of patients, nurses and doctors was studied and the floor space is divided into degrees of sterility with different routes of access for the medical staff and patients.

CIFAR, as evidently visible, is not a conventional healthcare center in its conception and realization. Using thoughtful spatial planning and considerate design sensibilities, it successfully aims to create a sense of comfort to any incoming visitor at the same time serving its utilitarian purpose.

Design: Attic Light Architects
Photography: Suryan//Dang