This clinic is in a suburb of Osaka, in a place where there is still a great deal of farmland. It is basically a one-story, L-shaped building arranged on a rectangular site completely enclosed by a wall. Between the wall and the building are two outdoor spaces. One is a public courtyard for the clinic, and the other is a private courtyard for the staff. The indoor spaces look out on these courtyards. The public courtyard is paved in black lava rocks and planted with one tree. The wall facing the courtyard is composed of dark-colored wood and white plaster and creates a quite different impression from the silver facade of the building on the outside, which is finished in galbarium steel plate. I wanted visitors to the clinic who are naturally anxious about their health to feel at ease the moment they enter the courtyard. The same wood material and white wall surface are used in the interior space. The space is deliberately displaced from the structure so that the waiting area leads easily and almost imperceptibly to the examination room. The private courtyard to the north has a wooden deck. An opening in the wall affords a view of the surrounding landscape. This courtyard is open to the outside. I wanted to make this a place where people working in the clinic can feel free and at ease when they are resting.
