Bronze Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2026
Aurea Health Office
- A' Design Award 2026 Bronze Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2026
- CLIENT: Dk Interior Architecture
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 5,546
- Verification code 0BE356E8BD · Verify this award
About Aurea Health Office
Aurea Health Office is a 2000 sqm medical workplace organized around clarity, confidentiality, and efficiency. A central circulation spine links reception, shared work areas, and enclosed meeting rooms, enabling intuitive navigation with minimal signage. Modular workstations integrate power and data for flexibility. Acoustic ceilings and defined collaboration zones support focus. An oculus inspired lounge ceiling and a boardroom with a suspended acoustic raft establish identity. Cleanable stone, warm timber, controlled lighting, and biophilic elements create a calm clinical setting.
Dilek Karaman's Aurea Health Office exemplifies a sophisticated approach to contemporary healthcare environment design that positions wellness spatial planning within evolving traditions of biophilic architecture and organic modernist interior vocabulary, drawing upon Scandinavian and Japanese design philosophies that privilege natural material integration, refined minimalism, and human-centered spatial experience. The compositional achievement demonstrates considerable technical facility in orchestrating complex curved architectural geometries, the concentric elliptical ceiling planes with integrated linear illumination create dynamic spatial rhythm while maintaining serene atmospheric coherence, the fluted vertical partition wall introduces subtle textural modulation that animates surfaces through light and shadow interaction without compromising the environment's fundamental tranquility, chromatic sophistication appears in the carefully calibrated warm neutral palette spanning cream through taupe to cognac balanced against the concentrated chromatic intensity of the deep green terrazzo flooring, this analogous harmony with strategic complementary accent establishes visual coherence while avoiding monotony, the designer demonstrates sensitivity to material expression through the dialogue between smooth architectural surfaces, optically textured fluted partitions, plush directional upholstery, granular aggregate flooring, and organic living elements, the integration of substantial vegetation within an illuminated architectural niche represents a particularly accomplished passage where biophilic design principles achieve tangible spatial presence rather than superficial decoration, the sculptural bronze-toned form in the middle ground introduces biomorphic irregularity that provides visual counterpoint to the dominant geometric vocabulary, furniture selection reveals discernment in balancing sculptural presence with functional clarity, the rounded sage armchair and textured cognac banquette demonstrate attention to both tactile invitation and formal resolution. Thematically, Aurea Health Office engages the increasingly significant cultural conversation around healthcare environment design as contributor to healing outcomes and patient wellbeing, the spatial narrative suggests a deliberate rejection of clinical institutional aesthetics in favor of hospitality-inflected environments that communicate care, competence, and holistic attention to human experience, the integration of natural materials, living vegetation, organic forms, and warm chromatic tonalities creates an atmosphere of grounded luxury and professional nurture, the careful calibration of public waiting zones and glimpsed private consultation areas establishes spatial hierarchy while maintaining visual transparency that may reduce patient anxiety through legibility and openness, the motivational typography visible in the background office suggests an environment oriented toward positive transformation and aspirational health outcomes, the threshold spatial experience the composition presents invites consideration of how design articulates transitions between everyday life and specialized care contexts. The work participates in broader design traditions extending from Alvar Aalto's pioneering tuberculosis sanatorium at Paimio through contemporary Scandinavian hospital design that privileges patient dignity and environmental healing potential, the fluted vertical surfaces may reference both classical architectural traditions of column articulation and mid-century modernist explorations of surface texture as light modulator, the biophilic integration recalls Japanese interior garden traditions adapted to contemporary professional contexts, viewers might contemplate how spatial design communicates institutional values, how material choices affect emotional states during vulnerable healthcare interactions, or how the integration of natural elements within built environments serves both symbolic and physiological functions in spaces dedicated to human wellbeing and professional care.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Aurea Health Office is a 2000 square meter medical workplace organized by a clear circulation spine linking arrival, shared open office, and decision zones. Modular work bays with integrated power and acoustic control support flexible teamwork. An oculus like lounge ceiling and a boardroom with suspended acoustic raft and linear lighting anchor orientation. Biophilic inserts and textured surfaces add calm while meeting clinical standards.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The office spans a total area of 2000 square meters and includes reception and a waiting lounge, a large open shared work area, a major boardroom, focus rooms, executive offices, and support and storage spaces. Lighting is layered to maintain comfort and clarity, combining ambient ceiling glow, linear wayfinding traces, task lighting, and wall washing to minimize glare. Privacy and acoustic performance are achieved through clear zoning, soft seating clusters, and controlled enclosure for meeting and focus rooms, ensuring both collaboration and confidentiality.
- Tags
- medical office interior, healthcare workplace, Istanbul office design, open plan shared workspace, boardroom design, biophilic office, acoustic ceiling systems, integrated linear lighting, clean detail architecture, quiet luxury interior
- Production Technology
- The project is delivered through a modular workplace kit that allows the open shared office to remain flexible over time. Open office partitions integrate lighting, power, and data distribution to keep floors and ceilings visually clean, while acoustic ceiling rafts and slatted zones reduce reverberation across the boardroom and collaborative areas. Linear LED systems are calibrated with dimmable scenes for consultation, meeting, and daily work modes. High touch zones use durable, easy-clean finishes with concealed skirting and crisp junction detailing, and biophilic elements are integrated as planting pockets and backlit green walls with planned service access for maintenance.
- Design Challenge
- The main challenge was achieving a welcoming, hospitality level atmosphere without losing clinical clarity. This required tight coordination between lighting, ceiling geometry, services integration, and acoustic control, especially in the large meeting room and the open shared office where noise, reflections, and visual clutter can quickly reduce comfort.
- Project Duration
- Istanbul, Turkey, 2024 to 2025
- Operation Flow
- Visitors arrive into a calm reception lounge, then transition along a legible route toward shared work and meeting areas. The open office supports day to day collaboration, while the boardroom operates as a formal decision hub, enabling presentations and multidisciplinary discussions with clear sightlines, balanced acoustics, and glare controlled lighting.
- Research
- The project investigates how a medical workplace can feel calm and premium while meeting the operational needs of privacy, hygiene, and high frequency use. Studies focused on glare control, acoustic comfort, zoning logic, and durable material assemblies that maintain a refined appearance over time.
- Inspiration
- The concept is built on calm clarity. Healthcare work demands focus, trust, and confidentiality, so the interior balances openness with protected edges. Light is treated as a guide, using continuous lines and soft ambient volumes to create an intuitive, stress reduced movement from public to private.
Colors of Aurea Health Office
Design Interview about Aurea Health Office
The main principle behind Aurea Health Office is calm clarity. Healthcare workplaces require focus, trust, confidentiality and operational efficiency, so the design was inspired by the idea of creating a clear spatial journey from public to private. Light, texture and soft transitions are used as guiding tools rather than decorative elements. The concept balances openness with protected edges, creating a workplace that feels professional, welcoming and emotionally calm while supporting the demanding rhythm of a medical environment.
My main focus was to create a medical workplace that feels calm and premium without losing clinical clarity. I wanted to achieve a balance between privacy and collaboration, hygiene and warmth, efficiency and atmosphere. The project needed to support daily work, meetings, consultation and multidisciplinary discussions while remaining visually clean and intuitive. Through clear zoning, acoustic control, glare-controlled lighting and durable materials, the design aims to reduce stress and improve comfort for staff, visitors and users.
My future plan is to use Aurea Health Office as a reference for future healthcare and workplace interiors that require both operational discipline and emotional comfort. The project opens valuable questions about how medical environments can become more welcoming, flexible and human-centered. I would like to continue developing this design approach through modular workplace systems, acoustic solutions, biophilic elements, refined lighting and durable material assemblies that support long-term use.
Aurea Health Office was designed and developed between 2024 and 2025 in Istanbul, Turkey. The process included concept development, space planning, zoning studies, lighting design, acoustic coordination, material selection and technical detailing. Because the project covers a 2,000-square-meter medical workplace, the design required careful coordination between spatial experience, confidentiality, workflow, lighting comfort and technical performance.
Aurea Health Office was designed from the need to create a healthcare workplace that feels both highly functional and emotionally reassuring. The concept responds to the practical demands of medical work, including privacy, hygiene, meetings, shared work and focus areas. At the same time, it was inspired by the idea that clinical spaces do not need to feel cold or stressful. The design pursues a calmer and more refined model for healthcare interiors, where professionalism and hospitality can coexist.
Aurea Health Office is an interior architecture project intended for realization as a professional medical workplace. It is not a mass-produced product, so production rights are not applicable in the same way as they would be for industrial design or furniture. The project can be developed and implemented through the studio’s design direction together with the required construction, lighting, acoustic, MEP and furniture teams.
I designed this type of work because healthcare interiors have a strong impact on people’s emotional and professional experience. Medical workplaces must support confidentiality, accuracy, focus and trust, but they should also reduce stress and create a sense of calm. Aurea Health Office allowed me to explore how interior architecture can improve the daily experience of patients, visitors and staff through light, material, acoustics, circulation and spatial clarity.
The project was influenced more by healthcare workplace research and spatial principles than by one specific designer or project. Contemporary medical interiors, hospitality-inspired workplaces, biophilic design, acoustic planning and lighting-led navigation all informed the concept. I was especially interested in how soft ambient light, clean geometry and tactile materials could create a medical environment that feels calm, precise and welcoming at the same time.
The target customer is a healthcare organization, medical clinic or professional health office seeking a refined, efficient and comfortable workplace environment. The design is suitable for doctors, consultants, administrative teams, patients and visitors who need clarity, privacy and trust. It is especially appropriate for clients who want a medical interior that meets operational requirements while also offering a premium, calm and human-centered atmosphere.
What sets Aurea Health Office apart is the balance between clinical function and hospitality-level comfort. The project avoids the cold and overly technical feeling often associated with medical spaces. Instead, it uses a clear circulation spine, modular workstations, acoustic ceiling elements, biophilic inserts, textured surfaces and layered lighting to create a calm professional environment. The oculus-like lounge ceiling and the boardroom with suspended acoustic raft also give the office a strong and memorable spatial identity.
The name Aurea Health Office combines the idea of refinement with healthcare function. “Aurea” suggests value, clarity and a warm sense of distinction, while “Health Office” directly expresses the medical workplace program. The name reflects the intention of the project: to create a professional healthcare interior that is calm, refined, trustworthy and carefully balanced. It represents a medical environment where operational clarity and emotional comfort come together.
The design process included conceptual sketching, digital drafting, 3D modeling, visualization, material studies and technical coordination tools. These tools were used to study circulation, zoning, ceiling geometry, lighting scenes, acoustic surfaces, workstation modules and the relationship between public and private areas. Technical coordination was especially important for integrating lighting, power, data, MEP services, acoustic rafts and clean detailing into a coherent workplace system.
The most unique aspect of Aurea Health Office is the way it creates a calm and intuitive workplace identity through spatial clarity and ceiling design. The central circulation spine organizes movement, while the oculus-like lounge ceiling and the suspended acoustic raft in the boardroom become orientation points within the office. These elements are not only decorative; they guide experience, improve acoustic comfort and help define the character of the workplace.
A medical workplace requires collaboration with specialized disciplines, especially in lighting, acoustics, MEP coordination, furniture systems, material application and technical detailing. Aurea Health Office required careful integration of power, data, acoustic ceiling rafts, slatted surfaces, lighting scenes and durable finishes. The project depends on the collaboration between design vision and technical expertise to ensure that the final environment is both refined and operationally reliable.
Technology plays a discreet but essential role in Aurea Health Office. Integrated power and data systems allow modular workstations to remain flexible over time, while dimmable linear LED lighting supports different scenarios for consultation, meetings and daily work. Acoustic ceiling systems improve comfort in collaborative areas and the boardroom. Concealed services and clean junction details help maintain visual order. Technology is used as a hidden support system that improves performance without disturbing the calm atmosphere.
Yes, the design was informed by research into healthcare workplace behavior, acoustic comfort, glare control, zoning logic, hygiene requirements and high-frequency use. We studied how circulation could become more intuitive with minimal signage, how lighting could support focus and orientation, and how material choices could remain durable and easy to maintain over time. Research also focused on balancing open collaboration with confidentiality, which is especially important in medical workplace environments.
The main challenge was creating a welcoming atmosphere without compromising clinical clarity and operational discipline. Medical workplaces need privacy, hygiene, durability and efficiency, but they should not feel cold or stressful. Another challenge was coordinating ceiling geometry, lighting, acoustic control and MEP services, especially in the large boardroom and open shared office. The design required a careful balance between visual softness, technical integration and long-term practicality.
I decided to submit Aurea Health Office because I believed the project offers a meaningful response to the future of healthcare workplace design. It combines medical functionality with emotional comfort, spatial clarity, acoustic control and refined materiality. An international design competition provided an opportunity to share this approach with a wider audience and to position the project within a global conversation about human-centered, high-performance interior environments.
Aurea Health Office strengthened my understanding of how sensitive and complex healthcare interiors can be. The project improved my ability to balance privacy, collaboration, hygiene, comfort and visual identity within one coherent design language. It also deepened my interest in lighting and acoustics as tools that shape emotional wellbeing. I learned that a medical workplace can be efficient and refined while still feeling warm, calm and human.
Aurea Health Office is important to me because it challenges the idea that medical interiors must feel purely technical or impersonal. The project shows that healthcare workplaces can be precise, hygienic and operationally clear while also offering comfort, texture and emotional calm. Its value lies in this balance. It is a workplace designed not only for productivity, but also for trust, wellbeing and a better daily experience.