Healthcare Interior Design: Cardiovascular Clinic in Encinitas
The gist:
FS Design Group, a San Diego-based healthcare interior design firm, collaborated with United Medical Doctors and Raymond Fox Associates to design a state-of-the-art, two-story medical clinic in Encinitas, California, led by cardiovascular specialist Dr. Eric Hong. Featuring a calming, wellness-focused interior with natural wood elements and an efficient clinical layout, the space supports both patient comfort and operational functionality. This thoughtfully designed facility reflects Dr. Hong’s commitment to heart health and enhances the delivery of specialized cardiovascular care.
FS Design Group Collaborates (Again) with United Medical Doctors and Raymond Fox Associates
Our team at FS Design Goup was excited to team up again with United Health and prime architect Raymond Fox Associates to design a medical clinic.
Dr. Eric Hong, is the founder of United Medical Doctors and specializes in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease. United Medical recently added a new clinic in a ground-up, two-story building on El Camino Real in Encinitas to its portfolio of clinics.
Dr. Hong has board certification in cardiovascular disease, internal medicine, echocardiography, nuclear cardiology, cardiac computed tomography (CT) and is a Registered Physician in Vascular Interpretation Credential (RPVI).
The building program for his Encinitas clinic reflects his comprehensive training and approach to heart health. The first floor of the now-transformed, 11,000+ square-foot medical office building houses five exam rooms with a nearby nurse’s station, an MRI room and an X-ray room. The second floor features a gym and fitness area, a physical therapy room and some administrative offices.
How Can Interior Design Promote Wellness?
According to the American Heart Association, coronary heart disease (CHD) was the leading cause of deaths (39.5%) in the U.S. in 2022, attributable to cardiovascular disease (CVD). Heart disease is scary, so we asked ourselves: How do we work with Dr. Hong to ease his patients’ nerves and reinforce their decisions to seek treatment and prevention?
With this in mind, our healthcare interior design approach in Encinitas focused on reducing patient stress while supporting cardiovascular care. From previous work with Dr. Hong at many of his other clinics, we already understood his design aesthetic. For the Encinitas clinic, we created a neutral but sophisticated design palette by incorporating some unique features.
In their study “Wood as a Restorative Material in Healthcare Environments,” Sally Augustin and David Fell found that wood incorporated in building spaces noticeably reduces stress.
Dr. Hong’s patients will notice that the reception area at his Encinitas clinic stands out with a natural wood header hanging from the ceiling, framing the reception desk. The flooring, also wood, is laid out in a sophisticated herringbone pattern.
We further leveraged the calming effect that natural colors and elements have on the mind by using a white, patterned quartz material for the reception desk that flows toward the floor with a waterfall edge.
Designing a Clinic Layout to Promote Healthcare Efficiency
Aesthetics are important, but so is efficiency. For this medical interior design project, we made sure the layout balanced patient wellness with provider workflow. Ray Fox, owner and principal architect of Raymond Fox & Associates, has interviewed hundreds of doctors about how they move about and work in their clinics, operating rooms, imaging facilities and more. He’s deeply familiar with their medical equipment and understands the requirements of sizes, use and placement.
Ray worked with Dr. Hong to determine the ideal layout for his Encinitas clinic based upon this input. We followed Ray’s lead by selecting resilient and easy-to-clean materials to ensure the necessary medical features complement the calming design story. For example, a sink that’s strategically located in an exam room for the doctor to immediately wash his hands up entering will feature colors, finishes and hardware that demonstrate careful consideration and an elevated design.
With this hand-in-hand collaboration, a healthcare space can be beautiful, which helps the provider attract and care for patients, and functional, which helps the provider save time and money.
Diagnosing the Design
Like a healthcare provider treating a patient, we enjoy looking for solutions to solve design challenges. For the United Health Encinitas location, this meant redesigning a tile wall feature in the lobby.
When Ray and his team had to relocate a door to maintain the structural integrity of the building, we had to find a way to move and reconfigure the tile wall in the lobby that was designed to meet up with a floor pattern.
We also worked closely with Ray’s team to accommodate the MRI and additional equipment to ensure all interior materials specified supported the technical requirements of these elements.
Shout-Outs
Successful building projects come from dynamic teams. In addition to Dr. Hong and Ray and his team, we want to recognize Manna Construction and building owner Richard Alleway. Amy Tobia and Laura Vavrunek from our team were grateful to work alongside this top-notch crew of professionals.
