How Lighting Transforms Patient Experience in Hong Kong's Health Centres | with Eugenia Cheng

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The divide between theory and practice in healthcare design couldn't be more evident than in lighting strategies for medical spaces. Through an illuminating exploration of two contrasting Hong Kong medical facilities, we discover how the same foundational goal—promoting health and wellbeing—manifests in dramatically different design approaches based on context, clientele, and purpose.

Most fascinating is how these case studies challenge our assumptions about "clinical" environments. The first project, Laguna City Medical Center, completely reimagines what a neighbourhood GP clinic can feel like. Located in a windowless basement serving diverse demographics, its designers rejected sterile lighting conventions in favour of bright, joyful spaces with curved elements and simulated daylight. The lighting strategy thoughtfully distinguishes between waiting areas (using indirect, warmer lighting to reduce anxiety) and examination rooms (featuring direct illumination with higher colour temperatures for clinical accuracy). This approach transforms what could have been a drab medical office into a space that actively contributes to healing.

The contrast with Cosmax Cosmetic Centre couldn't be more striking. This high-end aesthetic medical facility in Hong Kong's Central Business District serves an elite clientele seeking discretion and luxury. Rather than brightness, its lighting design employs dramatic shadows, minimal direct illumination, and carefully crafted privacy through light and darkness. Patients move through a choreographed journey from reception to treatment to recovery, with lighting that simultaneously guides and shields them from view—particularly important for celebrity clients who don't want to be recognised post-procedure.

What makes this examination so valuable is its reminder that good design isn't about rigid adherence to standards or benchmarks, but about understanding human needs within specific contexts. Whether creating an affordable neighbourhood clinic that radiates positivity or an exclusive medical sanctuary that prioritises privacy, thoughtful lighting transforms how we experience healthcare spaces. Ready to rethink what your medical environments could feel like? These case studies prove that with empathy and creativity, every healthcare space can be designed to truly support wellbeing.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello everybody, my name is Eugenia and today my
presentation will be about thedifferent interpretations of
health and well-being incommercial spaces.
Now health and well-being hasbecome a very popular design
directive across a range ofcommercial projects of different
sizes, scales and types.
Now different scale projectshave different systems of

(00:23):
benchmarking health andwell-being targets.
Typically in Hong Kong, largescale projects with larger
budgets have allowances andnecessity to hire designers and
consultants who specialize inhealth and wellness design and
therefore can offer better andbespoke solutions that meet
international standards.
Better and bespoke solutionsthat meet international

(00:44):
standards.
On the contrary, smallerprojects with benchmarking and
certificates of not a priority,of a less priority clients with
a lesser budget will choose toaddress health and well-being in
a variety of different ways,mainly relying on their
immediate interior designers orthe design team to implement and

(01:06):
define what health andwell-being is.
In simple terms, it means manydesign is based on.
In larger projects in Hong Kong, they like to define a project
by data, by statistics, bystandards and lighting design
guidelines.
But on smaller projects, whenthe client may not have the

(01:29):
budget or the concern, what theycare about is if the project is
designed based on how it feels,how it actually looks at the
end of the day.
So it begs the question islighting design?
Is there a one-size-fit-alllighting solution for different
scale projects?
Now, today I'm going to sharetwo case studies of the same

(01:52):
project types but with differentdesign briefs and parameters,
to explore whether there's onesolution for all or otherwise.
Now, the first project is aproject in Laguna City.
It's called Laguna City MedicalCenter.
The usage of it is a GP medicalcenter.

(02:13):
It's not very big.
It's only about 700 square feet, so only about 700 square
meters.
It is located in a retail shopcalled Laguna Plaza, which is
located in a residential andindustrial area.
The immediate neighborhood is alarge private residential
complex with 12,000 units.

(02:34):
The demographic group is of allage groups with a wide spectrum
of social and economicbackgrounds and economic
backgrounds.
The expended expenditure pervisit is about 300 Hong Kong
dollars, which is roughly about38 US dollars.

(02:57):
Now, I'm sure we've all beensick and we've all had to go to
a clinic.
We've probably felt, you know,very uneasy, very awkward, very
uncomfortable, awkward, veryuncomfortable.
Now, the uncomfortablenessobviously stems from one being
unwell.
However, maybe it could also bebecause of the environment.
Maybe it's very poorly lit,maybe it's too bright, too dark,
different color temperatures,too cool, or maybe even too warm

(03:19):
, or maybe it's just not eveneven so.
For the Laguna City MedicalCenter, the interior designer
really wanted to challenge thisnorm, or just wanted to sway
away from the whole clinical andlaboratory feel of it.
They wanted the design to bebased on to promote joy and

(03:46):
nature flow of wellness.
They wanted to choose colorsand materials that help refocus
ambient feelings of nature orpastoral spaces.
They wanted to use brightertones, softer colors to
encourage relaxation and toencourage positive feelings.
They also wanted to introducedaylight-like illumination to

(04:15):
bring in the health and naturefeel of a space.
As we all know, daylight isvery important to health.
Now, this building, this clinic, is actually located in the
basement of the retail of theshopping mall and therefore
completely no windows at all.
The space also introduces a lotof curves, introduces a lot of

(04:41):
softer edges.
This actually promotes thenotion of wellness flow and
hopefully ease the tension ofpatients when they come in.
As you can see from the plan,as you enter you see the waiting
area, then it's the circulationinto the surrounding rooms, the
consultation, treatment,pharmacy, reception areas.

(05:05):
As you can see from the plan,this is actually from the
interior designer.
It's very colorful.
They wanted to bring in a lotof that, these elements.
So how did we implement that?
We implement that.

(05:33):
To make, to make implement thedesign and to synergize the
design brief, we came up with alighting strategy.
We divided it into two spaces Alow task and activity area,
such as the waiting andcirculation areas, and the task
area high task and active areas,which is the consultation,
treatment, reception andpharmacy.
In the low task activity areaswe wanted to create more

(05:53):
indirect lighting, a bit softer,because people are just sitting
there waiting.
They're already feeling verynervous, maybe anxious.
If we have a lot of directlighting it might make them feel
a bit under the spotlight andmaybe causing discomfort,
whether it's from glare or justfeeling under the spotlight.
We chose 3000K or higher CRIbecause we wanted to create a

(06:20):
more natural feeling, but nottoo warm to feel like we're in a
restaurant, but not so coldthat it feels very, very
clinical-like.
We wanted to introduce higherCRI because we also wanted to
emphasize the choices of colorsand materials chosen by the
interior designer.
In the high task activity areas, where there's going to be a

(06:41):
lot of manual work or justhigh-activity work, such as
blood checking, making sure themedicine is chosen correctly.
We wanted to use more directlighting In each of the spaces.
We actually tried to introducedaylight simulation, such as
using daylight technology thatprovide somewhat artificial

(07:03):
skylight illumination.
We wanted to make sure in thesespaces we use, the horizontal
and vertical illumination wasbalanced so people feel that
it's well lit, especially in aclinic.
We chose a slightly highercolor temperature in contrast to
the outside, because at the endof the day, it's a consultation

(07:25):
room.
Doctors need to make sure theycan see the blood or, you know,
make sure that facialrecognition, etc.
So these are actual photos ofthe finished project.
As you can see, this is theentry point, which is a bit of a
contrast to the outside.

(07:45):
They actually at the beginning,if you see the outside, you see
the ceiling.
They've got some LED panels.
At the beginning it wasn't evenlike that, it was just, you
know, t5 tubes.
But after we completed theclinic, because they felt like
it was such a contrast, theyactually changed the lighting in
the corridor to match theclinic as you enter.
As you enter, you will see thereception area and then on the

(08:10):
left you would see the seatingarea.
You can see that we'veintroduced a lot of indirect
lighting.
There is an artificial sort oflight box to sort of pretend to
be a skylight, because there isno windows there.
You can see that the space isquite evenly lit, but not dark,

(08:31):
well-balanced illumination.
The floor is also very well litbecause we wanted patients to
come in to feel like the spaceis very clean, like the space is
very clean.
As we enter the treatment rooms, you'll see that the lighting
direction is slightly different.
Here there's a lot more directillumination and, as you can see

(08:52):
, we actually used ColuxSkylight to bring in that sort
of daylight effect on the wallsto promote health and to make
the patients feel like they arewell being looked after.
Above all the tables, which thelights are not turned on,
there's actually local tasklights that is built into the

(09:15):
shelves.
So if the doctors or themedical practitioner wishes to
use more light, they can.
They can turn it on and off bythemselves.
Or the medical practitionerwishes to use more light, they
can.
They can turn it on and off bythemselves.
Each room is actually equippedwith manual dimming.
So if they wish to have itbrighter lights, they can.
If they wish to have it lower,they can.

(09:37):
This is the overall images ofthe project.
As you can see, it's quitebrightly lit, it's very colorful
, you can see it.
People come in, you know, theyfeel the sense of joy, even
though they might be sick, butat least they can feel that it's
very positive and it's morerelaxing and promotes more
positive experience.

(09:58):
So the second project CosmaxCosmetic Centre.
It is a cosmetic and aestheticmedical centre which is very
different from the first one,which is a GP clinic.
It is located in CentralBusiness District and I'm sure
people who have been to HongKong will know Central.
The neighbourhood is class Acommercial buildings, five-star

(10:21):
hotels, luxury retail, thedemographic group is upper
middle class and each visit isapproximately 3,000 Hong Kong
dollars, approximately 320 USdollars.
So a bit of a difference thanthe clinic.

(10:42):
In the clinic here, the designerwanted to take a completely
different approach to the firstclinic.
Because this is a cosmeticcenter, the clients are more
exclusive, they're more privateand it's more about growth and
feeling good after coming out.

(11:02):
So therefore, the designer cameup with the idea that when you
come in, you want to feel safe,you want to feel like there's a
journey.
You come in feeling not sogreat about yourself, but once
you come out, you feel upliftedand you feel growth.
As the designer mentioned inhis quote, their aim is to

(11:25):
elevate the space, to makepatients feel cared for.
So through the design they wantto create a sense of intimacy
and emotional security.
Because after they do this, whenpatients come in to the medical
center, they're hoping to docosmetic procedures, and often
it can be very invasive, andafter the procedure they can't

(11:48):
just leave immediately.
They must wait in a room and towait for a little while for the
swelling to go down and thenthey will leave In this space.
It's a little different fromthe previous project, where the
medical clinic was more open.

(12:09):
It was more general.
This one they had a flow.
So upon coming into the waitingarea, upon arriving, you go to
the reception, then you go tothe waiting area, then you go
through the door into thepassageway, where then you go
into the consultation room first, which is very brightly lit,

(12:37):
and then you go into thetreatment room where all the
procedures are done.
Then you are led into the VIPlounge where the patients will
sit down, recover and have thefinal consultation with whoever
the doctor is who performed yourprocedure.
And then, finally, as you leave, you pass through the other

(12:58):
side of the passage and youenter back into the reception
area where you can look at theproducts and the waiting area.
So what was our lightingstrategy here?
We wanted the reception area tohave a soft, indirect lighting
ambience as well, because that'swhere people come in.

(13:18):
They want to take a rest, youwant to feel serene, tranquil.
You want the space to feel verycave-like, but very, very
calming.
So here we also introducedskylight simulation using light
boxes.
As such, we wanted to use3,500KK because we didn't want

(13:42):
it to be too warm either, butnot so clinical.
So you know, we took a balancewe did a lot of studies with
because we were using a barosolceiling.
So we all know that barosolactually has different products
and under different LED lightsit actually affects the color
temperature that comes out.
So we did many, many materialmock-ups.

(14:05):
We did mock-ups on the site, wedid mock-ups actually at the
interior design studio, etcetera.
Now, during the VIP and thepassageway, we actually wanted
to create a more high contrast.
Why?
Because when the patients comeout, they actually don't want to
be seen.
A lot of the times they mighthave their face covered up

(14:28):
because they might becelebrities or someone of
importance.
They don't actually want peopleto see that they've been at the
clinic.
So instead, you'll see it in aminute, the photos.
We also wanted to create alow-level illumination just
enough for them to navigatethrough the space into the VIP
lounge, and inside the loungesthere'll be some local task

(14:50):
lighting, etc.
So how did it turn out?
So this is the space, this isthe reception and the waiting
area.
As you can see, there's almostliterally no downlights.
We just literally put askylight in and some decorative
pieces in.
We wanted to feel a space ofprivacy, exclusivity, to make

(15:16):
the space feel very expensive,especially if people are going
to be spending 300 Hong Kongdollars, 3,000 Hong Kong dollars
.
Sorry, this is a different viewand as you see on the left-hand
side photo, that is the entrypoint to the passage.
We only put a very smallspotlight onto the architectural

(15:39):
feature just to give it as apointer, as an anchor point for
people to lead them into thepassageway.
And this is the passageway.
As you can see, we only usedindirect lighting into the
ceiling and some footlights andthis created, I would say, a
pretty high contrast.
We had to also put in some very, very small downlights for the

(16:03):
purpose of fulfillingregulations as such, but it
didn't make very much difference.
And then this is the VIP loungearea, the VIP consultation
lounge.
As you go in, as you can see,there's only mirror lights and
maybe some task lighting just infront of the mirror so people
can see and just make sure thateverything is going okay.

(16:25):
Everything else is verydetermined by some indirect
lighting to create a moredramatic but very private
setting.
So you can see a summary of allthe photos.
It's very different from thefirst one.
Now, here we can definitely seethe differences.

(16:45):
On the left-hand side is themedical clinic.
The other side is the cosmeticclinic.
The medical clinic, as you cansee, it's very bright, it's very
bright colors.
It feels very, you know,inclusive, it feels very joyful,
whereas the other side you cantell that it's all about being

(17:10):
calm, going into like asanctuary, it's all about
privacy.
So the final takeaway it's allabout privacy.
So the final takeaway, as we cansee, both of them are medical
clinics.
The nature of it is a medicalclinic, but the design approach

(17:33):
is completely different.
So it shows that noone-size-fits-all lighting
design solution can be applied.
At the end of the day, eachproject is about what, how and
who.
What is the project, how is thespace being used and who is
using it.
After we know these information, then we can start thinking
about the technical aspect of it, the form and the function.

(17:56):
I believe that through thesetwo projects, we realize that
health and well-being design interms of lighting is about
treating the space withconsideration.
It's not about how much data orstatistics or guidelines or
standards that we need to follow, but also to see actually how

(18:17):
the space needs to work.
It's also about health andwell-being, looking through the
eyes of the user and havingempathy.
And finally, I'd like toconclude and say good lighting
should be accessible to everyoneand there is inherent value and
potential in every space andobject, regardless of the

(18:37):
timeline, brief or cost.
Thank you, thank you, eugenia.