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Serene Minimalism in a Zen-Like Dental Office

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The cool peacefulness of a dental office designed by Hironaka Ogawa in Gunma, Japan, gives no hint that the region suffers from strong winds in winter and has the highest summer temperatures in Japan.

Openings in the exterior are kept to the absolute minimal minimum to keep the hot sun at bay.

The zen-like dentists’ offices includes housing for the dentist.

The client wished to have the housing adjoining the offices, but maintaining a separation by the difference in heights.

Diffused light is wielded to create a series of lovely and tranquil spaces for the various dental treatment cubicles.

With a plan like this, there are numerous opportunities for diffuse light from a grid of skylight courtyards.

The many courtyards create many opportunities for sky lighting deep pockets in the building, lighting surrounding dental offices.

There are an amazing number of serene and serendipitous framed scenes.

Despite the appearance of much larger ‘light wells’, the sky-lights are not that big, as can be seen at night on the roof.

But the many skylights create the impression of an almost surrealistic depth in space.

Each space has a different feeling, due to the subtleties of differences in each cell of floors, natural lighting and volume.

The many mysterious spaces throughout help create a great sense of spaciousness, while also maintaining privacy for the lucky dental patients to be treated here.

Who would imagine a visit to a dentist’s office could be such a heavenly experience?