Doctor's Gym

DOCTOR'S GYM

DOCTOR'S GYM

Degree Project: Woodbury University

Mentor: David Pearson

Project Site: Ocean Beach, CA

Project Type: Medical

Project Size: 10.000 S.F.

A doctors-gym is a new experimental type of healthcare facility which is meant to strengthen relationships between neighborhoods and their healthcare providers. While the doctors-gym has all of the same capabilities of a traditional family practice or urgent care, it takes advantage of a gym’s natural purpose: improving quality of life though regular exercise.

The proposed site for this project is in an existing parking lot in Ocean Beach, CA (a popular neighborhood in San Diego) directly adjacent to the O.B. Fishing Pier. People have been naturally gathering in this location for over 100 years to enjoy the sand, surf and rock formations. This site also enjoys heavy foot traffic as it is at the end of Newport Ave, home Ocean Beach’s small business district.

As a new type of building, a doctors-gym needs to feel like one place. There needs to be a lot of overlap of activities and shared spaces between exercise and medical patrons. To generate different ideas on how a doctors-gym could function an architectural game called Activities and Connections was developed. For more information about the architecture game, please click here.

The site was designed to be extremely public with a relatively compact building to encourage a lot of activity and connections. The public had to visually see people exercising to make the site an interesting place to visit. Upon approaching the building, pedestrians see people exercising upstairs and a large walkway that leads to the beach and the world famous Ocean Beach Fishing Pier. While walking to the main entrance around the building people come across a new public exercise yard covered with a rubbery surface similar to a running track. The rubbery surface encourages people to run and be active in the large space.

The doctors-gym is meant to be a place where people visit frequently, either to exercise or to regularly visit a clinician. In order to make the building feel like a place of healing, healthy architecture and design was incorporated to as many places as possible.

Upon entering the doctors-gym people enter the waiting room which is modeled after a restaurant. The layout of restaurants encourages conversation and also allows people to be productive while they are waiting. Placing small tables in waiting rooms also helps clinicians and personal trainers to provide informal consultations.

The reception desk acts as a sorting area which helps check people in to either the gym or scheduled/drop in appointments. The public can also walk up to this desk and request quick medical advice.

The main clinic is located downstairs and enjoys an atrium filled with natural light. The walls of the main clinic are also designed to fold so the doctors-gym can provide public outreach and hold special public health events.

To make the building feel as if it were still outside the roof was mostly covered by a semi transparent, inflatable ETFS plastic. Horizontal bi-folding windows were placed both upstairs and downstairs to allow fresh air into the building.

After walking up the stairs, people have the option of either exercising in a traditional gym, attending a class or receiving more specialized or private care.

A blood lab and x-ray room was also placed upstairs to protect from the ocean and also allow the doctors-gym to function as an urgent care center.