August 14, 2019

Text: Jesse Dorris

AFFD Space Design Firm Creates a Traditional Chinese Medicine Center Inspired by Water

Rounded corners soften a small meeting room, delineated by recessed lights. Photography by Shi Yunfeng.

The Xicheng District is the largest in the old city section of Beijing, and a bustling blend of traditional and new China. The Beijing TRT Cuihe Healthcare Experience Center, for example, embodies its brand of Chinese traditional medicine in a forward-thinking space by local firm AFFD Space Design Firm.

“The inspiration comes from the nimbleness and endurance of water,” says chief designer Gao Zhigiang. Overhead lighting resembles pools of water, while plants grow with reef-like pockets in the walls. LED strip lights ebb and flow around the rounded corners of meeting rooms, outlining a circulation path that includes plenty of private areas, a key consideration for the center’s elderly clientele.

Da Zheng created custom beds and a sofa for a bedroom devoted to elderly care. Photography by Shi Yunfeng.

“The essence of design is to create a more reasonable style of living for mankind. Our users cannot feel the boundary between indoor and outdoor,” Gao says, proving his point with a concept that relegates borders  to the past.

The concrete floors reflect light onto the Da Zheng custom chairs and tables in reception. Photography by Shi Yunfeng.
The exterior walls of the central exhibition room are glass, back-sprayed with a custom Chinese landscape painting. Photography by Shi Yunfeng.
Custom furniture by Da Zheng establishes a reception area, with a wall of artificial marble by Xing Kang Long Fa. Photography by Shi Yunfeng.
A relaxing waiting area near reception offers poufs and cushions atop sisal rugs, all custom made by Da Zheng. Photography by Shi Yunfeng.

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