Smiles was conceived with a simple but radical question: what if a dental clinic could feel less like a medical facility and more like a cultural space? From this idea emerged a project that challenges the conventions of healthcare design, prioritizing user experience, emotional depth, and artistic integration as much as clinical precision. Designed by Wangan Studio, and located in Ankara, Türkiye, Smiles reimagines the dental clinic as a place where wellness, care, hospitality, and art converge—transforming treatment into an elevated, human-centered experience.
Its primary challenge was to create a space that could meet the rigorous demands of a healthcare facility while offering the sensibility of a contemporary art gallery where design and art are inseparable and shape a more human-centered experience. Far from sterile surfaces and cold atmospheres, Smiles embraces natural stone, glass, and black oak cladding materials chosen for their tactile warmth, durability, and psychological impact. The result is a space where care, culture, and design converge, offering a dynamic and inspiring model for the future of healthcare.
The design reinterprets grey stone across the floors and walls as monolithic surfaces rising from the ground, while black oak cladding appears only as wall elements. The stone volumes emerge organically from the floor, reinforcing continuity and unity through precise, monolithic finishes. Grey marble blocks of varying hierarchy and proportion were positioned to generate interstitial voids, which became meeting rooms, consultation areas, and doctors’ offices transforming abstract composition into a coherent architectural system.
By combining natural red stone with glass in the welcome area, the design establishes a dialogue between solidity and fragility, permanence and lightness. The stone is redefined not static, but tilted, displaced, and articulated as if emerging from the ground transforming into a sculptural, fluid element. This interplay challenges conventional material boundaries and reflects the brand’s bold, unconventional character.
From the outset, art was integrated as an inseparable part of the architecture. With a permanent collection and rotating exhibitions featuring works by artists including Seçkin Pirim, Mehmet & Kazım, Tom Fellows, and Ömer Faruk Yaman, Smiles has evolved into a continuously transforming cultural space enriching its character with emotional depth and offering visitors moments of discovery beyond treatment.
The design process was guided not only by spatial elements, but also by the temporal experience of the user. Every scenario was considered from the moment a patient stepped into the clinic to how long they spent in each space. A pre-treatment transition period was intentionally left open to foster a connection between the user and the environment offering not only a physical but also an emotional preparation zone.
The project is divided into two main sections: the Clinic and the Campus. While the clinic focuses on patient-centered functions, the campus is dedicated to enhancing the daily life of the team. This approach reflects a modern interpretation of hospitality, based on the belief that "a happy team creates a sustainable experience." The campus proposes a working environment that feels like a living space, where team members feel valued and at ease. In doing so, the design also breaks down traditional barriers between patients and doctors, positioning them as part of a shared community and creating a comfortable, inclusive environment. Smiles was conceived not merely as a healthcare facility, but as a living platform for its community.
By breaking down traditional barriers between healthcare and hospitality, Smiles positions itself as a model for the future of care spaces rooted in permanence through its use of stone and marble, yet constantly evolving through its curatorial program. It offers its community a place where design excellence is inseparable from everyday human experience.