V&Co. is a medical spa is a lifelong dream for Vivian and Valerie, twin sisters who have been building their clientele in the beauty industry for many years. Located in San Jose, California, the new home for V & Co offers its customers a space for innovative beauty and wellness therapies that challenge the rigidity and austerity of typical medical spas. Our design concept redefines the mundane office hallway layout and redefines them, creating a sense of wonder and curiosity as you circulate through the facility. A place of luxury that still feels welcoming and approachable, V&Co is a resculpted version of a medical office.

In our conceptual design studies, we took the approach of learning the rules before choosing to break them. The medical office typologies find commonality in their linear halls, grid-like treatment rooms, and stark edges with a medically sanitized feel. Our goal throughout the design process was to differentiate from those spaces and bring forward a sense of hospitality through an earthy color palette and organic forms. Our layout liberates the treatment rooms from the standard grid and scatters them into individual pods around the space, allowing circulation to flow freely in between. Instead of being confined to a rigid space at the entry, an extended lobby injects itself between the pods, creating an exploratory route through the space.

The arrangement of programs is derived from placing multiple pod boxes within the larger box of the existing space. Similar to the branding itself, the new V & Co headquarters is all about the play of contrasting forms and textures. In contrast to the crisp exterior of the pods, the interior is softened: smooth in shape, warm in color, and rich in texture. Inspired by the body, the softness here has a delicate warmth that makes for a treatment room unlike any other. They are spaces for renewal and restoration.

Design: Studio BANAA and WAGNER CREATIVE
Photography: Mikiko Kikuyama