The
Calderara Pharmacy nestles in the mountains just
outside the small town of
Domodossola. The building is 2 storeys high and has 4 large
shop windows facing out onto a car park. The
refurbishment has captured much of the spirit of this
mountainous zone, such as the sharp colours, icy air
and a preference for concrete actions over empty
rhetoric.
First
of all, we joined together two separate 3-storey buildings
to create one single building with a combined area of 350
sq. m., of which 250 sq. m. is taken up by the pharmacy.
There is also an underground garage and a basement with
store rooms and a cloak room. A mini-apartment, toilets,
laboratory and a display area for babycare, gluten-free and
hygiene products fitted with ®RAL3 furniture are all located
on the first floor.
The
prescription area, counters and dispensary are located on
the ground floor. Here we have 3 semicircular one-person
counters with an aluminium finish and another counter behind
with shelving above for over-the-counter medicines with methacrylatesides, all of which is coated in Alu A colour
enamel and features ®RAL1 brushed-steel finishes. The
ground floor also features a herbal medicine area furnished
with ivory and white furniture from the ®Ral Classic series,
decorated with trompe l’oeils depicting the
pharmacist's family tree.
The
pharmacy's curved walls are fitted with ®RAL2 display
units displaying dietetic products in one area and beauty in
an other, each display unit fitted with alternating blue and
yellow tympanum-shaped signs that evoke the colours of the arnica
and gentiana
plants, both used in the preparation of herbal remedies.
There is also an upsidedown cone-shaped pilaster marking out
the beauty centre's central position and a lift in glass and steel beside the stairs that
go up through the ceiling and draws one gaze up to the upper floor. The
retail area features a stained glass window made up of
thousands of bits of coloured Venetian Murano glass
and depicts the mountains, valleys and waterfalls of the
surrounding countryside.
The
stained glass panel is placed between the shopfront and the
prescription area and serves to filter the strong light
flooding in through the 4 large shop windows,
bathing the pharmacy's interior in a thousand colours and protecting customers' privacy from
the prying eyes of anyone looking through the shop windows.
There is a
separate area for measuring blood pressure and self-testing
and another for special offers and seasonal promotions which
is located down some shallow steps with lights to guide the
way. The shop windows are well lit and frame the pharmacy's
interior. There are also coloured cubes and illuminated
shelves to pin point certain areas of the window dressing
and attract the attention of passers-by.
The
pharmacy also contains lots of LCD screens placed in
strategic points as well as banners and logos on back-lit
tympanum-shaped signs to ensure that plenty of useful
information in readily available, enabling customers to find
their way around the pharmacy with ease.
All
of the single elements combine to create a
carefully-constructed atmosphere which builds an imaginary
bridge between Dr Calderara and his clientele, a unique
means to communicate with and a way of showing that his
pharmacy is part of the community.
The
building's colour scheme has also been careful chosen to
create a tonal link with the surrounding countryside and to
distinguish one storey from another. The ground floor was
painted in pale yellow ochre while the first storey was
painted in burnt Siena. Local beola stone from Val d’Ossola
was also used in the stairs, walls and pillars to give the
pharmacy's interior that all-important familiar feel as well
as create more depth. Finally blue LED floor lighting does
the rest and leads the customer around the pharmacy on a
journey of discovery. In short, a mountain pharmacy
for the third millennium.
Download
and print out the
Calderara
Pharmacy's brochure
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