University of Queensland Oral Health Centre by Cox Rayner Architects

Casey Vallance explains how Cox Rayner Architects used natural materials to create a relaxed environment inside the University of Queensland Oral Health Centre, a dentist training facility in Brisbane, Australia.
Cox Rayner Architects won the Health and Education category at Inside Festival 2015 for the University of Queensland Oral Health Centre, an education facility for dentistry students.
"We were told early on by the professors at the university that there is a very high anxiety associated with the dentistry profession," Cox Rayner Architects director Vallance explains in the film. "We looked at ways to reduce that."
The Australian architecture firm took advantage of the site's location adjacent to a park to create a welcoming entrance and reception area for the facility, Casey says.
"We really wanted to change the experience of arriving at a healthcare centre," he explains.
"While the building adjoins a hospital, we positioned the entrances into the clinic and reception areas directly off the park."
Stone floors and wood panelling on the walls and ceilings were used to create a relationship between the building interior and the park outside.
"We looked at the natural environment of the park and thought how we could incorporate materials from that landscape," Vallance says. "We used timber species found within the park and stone to create a much more relaxed environment."
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