By Katie Weeks
Photography by Adrian Velicescu/Standard
For many people, a day at the dentist isn't associated with a sense of calmness and joy. Dr. Ana Brightleaf hopes to change this with her California practice. "Most dental offices, aside from being ugly, are medical looking or antiseptic. It's an interesting challenge to make it feel like something other than a dental office," says M. Charles Bernstein, principal of M. Charles Bernstein Architects in Venice, Calif.

The 935-sq.-ft. home to Brightleaf Holistic + Cosmetic Dentistry rejects the stereotypically sterile dentist's office and embraces the principles of holistic treatment, which focuses on using natural remedies to bring the body back into harmony. The holistic philosophy is translated architecturally through a mix of sculptural forms and rational geometries.

The sculptural design starts at the door: Patients are greeted with a combination of curves and angular planes in the entry canopy and front desk, which meld into each other. The fresh green and white palette provides a crisp visual welcome, with the flowing green desk continuing up the wall while a white acrylic panel inserted in the desk provides a visual break as well as privacy between check-in and bill payment.

Contrary to the shapely reception area, the treatment areas are linear. Free-floating, cellular acrylic panels partition off treatment rooms and add visual texture, while still allowing daylight to permeate the space. Keeping the small details in mind, Berstein worked closely with Brightleaf to make sure workstation configurations met her needs. Keeping the patients in mind, he was careful to design the treatment area ceilings so as to provide a better view from the chair than the conventional layout of ceiling tiles and lights. "It gives a sense of compression in the chair but also exaggerates the sense of height going up to the understructure of the floor above," Bernstein explains.

To help make the small space seem open and welcoming, Bernstein removed the suspended ceiling, expanding from the building's standard 7-ft., 6-in. set up to over 9 ft., increasing the sense of space and spreading light from the treatment areas toward reception. Organizationally, Bernstein carved out an L-shape plan for public spaces that links the entrance and waiting area with treatment spaces, while partitioning off administrative areas like a lab, staff lounge, office, and mechanical room so these functions are located outside of the L shape.

Keeping holistic healing in mind, Bernstein employed sustainable materials, specifying low-VOC paint, highly efficient lighting, bamboo worksurfaces and cabinets, and cork floors. It seems patients and dentists aren't the only beneficiaries of this design; Mother Nature gets a little holistic healing, too.   

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