Dentist with a difference
The creators of New Zealand’s most stylish, attractive and effective retail spaces were celebrated at the 2015 Red Awards on Saturday at Auckland’s swanky Mantells on the Water. More than 150 attendees from within the retail design and shopfitting industry turned out, and television journalist Hilary Barry hosted the event.
Auckland dental clinic The Tooth Company’s Smales Farm branch won the coveted Supreme Award. The Tooth Company is a dental clinic that also has a branch in Britomart.
The Red Awards judging panel this year included Hugh Mullane from Ignite Architects Limited; Elaine Joyce from Pumpkin Patch and Gabrielle Bevin-Smith from Scentre Group. The panel described the fit out as “exquisite”, saying nothing had been left unexamined. Reinventing a dentists’ space is no ordinary challenge, they said.
“The Tooth Company exceeds on all fronts through intelligent design and craftsmanship. Everything in this space exhibits style and sophistication through the warmness of the crafted timbers and the exceptional lighting. The serenity and sophistication of work here is incredible, all contributing elements create a soothing environment of calmness which should offer relief in what can be a trying time.”
The Tooth Company also picked up the Entertainment + Service Award.
Emily Priest from Cheshire Architects designed the Smales Farm space with designer and company director Nat Cheshire. She says she was surprised at the win.
Priest designed the whole fit out, including the soft furnishings. She says she has long aspired to create spaces where nothing is made to spec and everything is bespoke: “I love to take everything and just do everything.”
The budget was extremely tight on this particular job, says Priest, who had to work hard to make sure quality standards were met and the look she’d pictured was achieved.
In the original pitch, Priest had spoken of a “Scandinavian spa style” which was “warm and inviting and incredibly not like a dentist”.
She says she has always been interested in healthcare spaces, saying they are often stark and white. There’s no restrictions around putting timber into healthcare spaces like The Tooth Company: “I wanted to make sure it didn’t feel really industrial and healthcareish.”
Priest says she had enjoyed a very collaborative process in working with Dimension Shopfitters.
