HealthQuarters Reimagines the Traditional Doctor’s Office

Fluorescent lighting and stark white walls are anything but soothing, especially when you’re waiting nervously in an exam room for a doctor to hand you a clean bill of health.

Couple that with the notion that modern consumers consider their well-being to include much more than an annual physical or doctor’s consultation, and the healthcare industry is ripe for revitalization.

Enter HealthQuarters, a new and aptly-named concept that aims to serve as a “headquarters for your health,” by bringing all facets of health and wellness, from primary care physicians and optometry to massage therapy and yoga, to one location in New York, with careful attention paid to the design and aesthetic to create an accessible, welcoming and reduced-stress environment.

“We wanted to look at the healthcare experience through a lens of hospitality rather than healthcare.”

Danny Orenstein, chief development officer at HealthQuarters

As CEO and founder Bhavdeep Singh explained, the way our society now thinks about health is much more holistic than it was in previous eras. While everything used to start and end with the family primary care doctor who might refer you to a specialist, today the notion of health centers around a fuller picture of wellness, including acupuncture, physical therapy, dentistry and orthodontics, nutritionists, and importantly, mental health.

“There are so many things that are involved in health, and yet [the system] is also so fragmented. There isn't any singular platform where it all comes together,” said Singh. “[Our number one objective is that] we're bringing all [areas] of health together on one platform, under one roof.”

The company partnered with Mount Sinai Health System to staff primary and family care physicians, sports medicine doctors and gynecologists at the NoHo neighborhood flagship office at 632 Broadway, a three-story loft building that houses an array of health and wellness options. Soon, dermatologists and allergists will be added to the mix. HealthQuarters also offers space to individual practices and brands to provide optometry, dentistry and orthodontics, chiropractic, physical therapy, yoga, mental health services, acupuncture and nutrition.

“Traditionally, [a person’s] healthcare is quite siloed, and you don’t get the overlap between wellness and more clinical practices,” said Danny Orenstein, chief development officer at HealthQuarters. “We’re creating more of an ecosystem around healthcare — an offering that feels more relevant to the way modern consumers interact with healthcare.”

For example, he described the journey one patient might experience if they come to HealthQuarters to address pregnancy or fertility concerns. They might start by visiting a Mount Sinai obstetrician, who could then refer them upstairs to a nutritionist, who could also then refer them to an acupuncturist.

“You then get this cycle within the space, and you don’t have to run around to a lot of different buildings or hospital systems to get the care you need,” said Orenstein. “You can even make a day of it here and come in and have all your appointments done in a matter of hours.”

Another thing that hasn’t changed in decades is the aesthetic of the doctor’s office, which has traditionally been a fairly sterile environment.

HealthQuarters brought on Brooklyn, N.Y.-based firm Alda Ly Architecture (ALA) to design the new concept, with a focus on making it an approachable, welcoming and comforting environment for patients.

“We wanted to look at the healthcare experience through a lens of hospitality rather than healthcare,” said Orenstein.

A majority of the design choices were informed by the principles of biophilic design, where spaces connect occupants to nature and outdoor elements through architecture. Biophilic design is “a proven way of improving the way people feel in spaces to increase their wellbeing. So in a healthcare space, in particular, and specifically with HealthQuarters where it’s a full spectrum of care, we wanted to make sure the space delivered that quality of well-being and improved the way you feel when you enter it,” said Tania Chau, Director of Interior Design at ALA.

Patterns and materials inspired by natural elements, like warm wood tones, plants and greenery, and an abundance of natural light to keep the space feeling open and bright, are at the foundation of the design.

The waiting area and hallways are clad in warm materials and colors and use custom white oak millwork with curving edges. Alabaster-toned walls, terrazzo tabletops, and color accents of blush, terra cotta, and ocean-blue also fill the space. More private nooks and care rooms are designed with deeper hues.

“For us at the high level, it was about how to design a space that cares. We wanted this to be a place that reminds you to care a little bit more about yourself, your loved ones, your community, and the planet."

Alda Ly, Founder and Principal at Alda Ly Architecture

Navigation is also a prominent element of biophilic design, and anyone that’s ever had to find their way around a hospital maze knows how confusing it can be, so the team focused on creating an intuitive layout that made it easy for patients to find their way.

From the waiting room, a series of large arches serve as thresholds to guide patients through the space helping them transition from the welcome lounge to the corridor, or from the exam wing to the wellness and recovery suite. The architects said these thresholds act as a “spine” of sorts to connect the various HealthQuarters offerings. “We didn’t want this to just be a linear path where you go from one space to the next and reach the end of the hall,” said Marissa Feddema, Director of Architecture at ALA.

The designers anchored the path from the start of the journey that begins at the front door. When a patient comes in, “you pass through these social and waiting areas and move upstairs to the wellness area. We created a waiting entry there at the top of the stairs to signal that you’re in a new area, and the lighting and interior colors are different too, they transition to more neutral earth tones,” described Feddema. “But we also created an overlook, essentially a large window at the end of the arched corridor. It’s meant to connect the end of the path back to the beginning, so the thresholds don’t feel linear and instead feel more like a loop.”

Color palettes and application of materials also help inform navigation, separating all the different types of HealthQuarters offerings, from clinical zones to relaxing spaces, while still creating a cohesive feeling throughout the three-story, 15,000-square-foot area.

“For example, throughout most of the space, we have one flooring material, so as you move through the main waiting room and transition spaces, you’re always guided by that,” said Chau. “But then as you branch off into smaller corridors or enter an exam room, the flooring and color palette may change.”

The color schemes for Mount Sinai medical areas and exam rooms incorporated blue and green schemes, which “are more traditionally associated with calmness. But then upstairs, we worked with terra cotta and more earthy hues, which are very welcoming and embracing, and create a different type of soothing environment for the wellness area,” Chau continued.

“Throughout the project, we tried to make sure that there was a line of continuity with the materials, while still having differentiating palettes to identify other space,” said Chau.

In a space that offers so many options under one comprehensive experience, it was important for each space to have its own personality and be purposely designed to support the type of care it provides while remaining cohesive with the overall concept.

Each company has its own branding to consider, and HealthQuarters provides space for institutional hospital systems such as Mount Sinai, but also leases to physicians setting up their very first individual practice, all of whom need different things under the HealthQuarters umbrella.

“We as the platform have to figure out how to support all of our partners in the best way possible and find out what kind of build-out they need. We want to make sure that within each specific practice, they have all the equipment, fixtures and functional elements that they need to do their best work,” said Orenstein. “So we work really collaboratively with, for example, a dentist, to go through the room layout, equipment specifications, etc., but we still want to make sure the space feels joined with the overall HealthQuarters aesthetic and is consistent from room to room.”

Beyond a welcoming design, the ALA team also thought about creating a variety of small spaces that meet a range of patient needs.

“Healthcare is not a one-size-fits-all industry, and people need different things at different times. If you’re feeling joyful and uplifted, we want you to have a space to grab a hot tea and talk with someone, or plug in and connect to WiFi to work. But there also need to be places for someone who just had a sensitive therapy appointment or diagnosis, maybe a small nook that feels safe where they can collect themselves or make a phone call,” said Feddema. “We are designing a space that heals, but healing means different things for different people, so it was really important for us to create a space that provided a diversity of experiences that could serve people no matter what kind of appointment they were coming in for.”

Orenstein says they even reimagined some aspects of the exam room, like choosing softer residential-style lighting, a place to set your bag and charge your phone so you’re not balancing it in your lap on an exam table while you wait, and comfortable places to change.

“I think that what all of this really comes down to is the idea of caring for people. Caring for yourself, caring for your family and the people around you,” said Alda Ly, Founder and Principal at Alda Ly Architecture. “So for us at the high level, it was about how to design a space that cares. We wanted this to be a place that reminds you to care a little bit more about yourself, your loved ones, your community, and the planet.”

The HealthQuarters team was selective about their location, intentionally choosing a highly trafficked storefront in a busy neighborhood — a far cry from suburban office parks or high-rise medical office buildings where doctor’s offices are usually situated.

“We are looking to be in people’s everyday travel path. Part of our proposition is that we're adding some convenience into people's consumption of healthcare, that you're not having to go out of your way to meet with a doctor,” said Orenstein.

For its flagship NoHo location and others under development, the company looked at data regarding the health-related behaviors of residents in the neighborhood — insurance coverage rates, prevalence of healthy food and beverage options, the presence of fitness centers or even fitness apparel stores.

“We were looking for neighborhoods where we know the population is interested in health and furthering their healthcare exploration, and then made that location really approachable. We also chose a building with a really prominent storefront where you can see the activity going on within the space if you walk by,” added Orenstein.

The strategy plays into the growing trend of “medtail” real estate, or medical businesses choosing retail locations to set up shop and orient themselves in areas that are convenient to consumers.

“I remember almost 10 years ago, I walked into a mall and saw a dentist’s office. I had to do a double take because it used to be a Gap, and I wondered what it was doing there,” described Singh. “But we are starting to see so much more of that now, and so many more patient-facing spaces being created in retail areas. The wellness platform is leading the way there — the gyms, yoga studios, massage therapy businesses — and what’s quickly happening is that more conventional clinical practices, save for ambulatory services, are following to set up retail spaces as well.”

As ALA’s Chau points out, all businesses these days need to differentiate themselves due to how much choice consumers have. Healthcare is no different. “Healthcare delivery has changed a lot in the last decade, especially in terms of how people have access to it,” she said. “So whether it’s a membership model or a comprehensive platform like HealthQuarters, there are a lot of new ways companies are thinking about how healthcare should be delivered. Correspondingly, they’re using the design of those spaces as a way to differentiate their different service offerings and show how they’re able to deliver that care to patients.”

Singh told LoopNet that the company plans to open two additional HealthQuarters locations within the next year in New York, and has been discussing future additional locations in New Jersey and New England with health system partners.