Natural materials

I don’t like the patch of green going from the ceiling to the wall because it looks incomplete and messy in my opinion. I also don’t like the low hanging red lights because it looks like they haven’t been installed properly with the loose wires everywhere. Another item I don’t like is the mixed textures with the cork finish on the desk and the different forms of wood throughout the design. For my design, I will keep the textures consistent with the flooring and the steel that I decided to use.

I like the different shapes used with the circles and the square tiles. Visually I enjoy the circles being used as shelves but practically you would be able to put more stock on the shelves if they were square or rectangular. I will take inspiration from the square tiles next to the shelf to create a mosaic effect out of glass tiles to go onto the front of the counter. This will further create the effect that the pharmacy is futuristic.

I like wooden batons on the ceiling because this creates a rustic feel to the pharmacy. However, I don’t like the seating for the waiting area. I dislike this because of the colour of the seats as well as the dark vanish on the wood. Instead, I will have steel armrests and a faux leather material in a grey colour as opposed to dark green.

I don’t like this because it looks busy and overcrowded and this would make it hard to find what you’re looking for. The design looks outdated and run down. This could be because there is far too much stock out for the space available, I think the pharmacy would look better if the stock was dispersed around the shop. For my pharmacy design, I will make sure that the stock is spread out so it is easier to see what is available for the customers.

Hi- tech materials

I like the futuristic design of this architecture because its shape is unusual and I have never seen anything quite like this before. I noticed that the outside of the structure is made out of glass and it is being supported by metal rods. Even though I like the appearance of the building, I won’t have the pharmacy as this shape. However, I will use large glass windows to bring natural light into the pharmacy.

I think that solar panels are a great way of generating energy in homes and industries. Therefore I will have solar panels installed on the roof to create electricity from the suns rays. This way the pharmacy will be more energy efficient by using this renewable energy source. This also meets the criteria of being sustainable because this pharmacy will be meeting the needs of the people without harming the environment.

Another way of creating efficient use resources is to collect rainwater in a system so that it can be transformed into energy. The water will generate a turbine that turns the kinetic energy into electrical energy. This will be used for the electricity needed to power the pharmacy as well as the solar panels. The rainwater can even be filtered and used for the plumbing system and the taps. I think this is better than relying on a rose pipe because there is a shortage of water across the world and other countries could benefit more from it than us.

I like the materials used for this design because it is mostly plastic. This creates a fun and calming environment for the customers. My favourite part of this is the periodic table of elements, which is used to store pharmaceuticals behind the counter. I might use bright coloured storage to colour coordinate the medication behind the counter. This will make it easier to tell where the correct medication is because of the shelf.

Modern pharmacies

 

I like the curvature of the layout with the shelves and the counter. I also like the green light on the counter. However, I don’t like the large tablets on the ceiling. I personally prefer the gloss finish on the cabinets and the shelves therefore I will have gloss paint for the ceiling and the door frames. I like the appearance of the floor because it has a shine finish to it, I think the flooring could be either: wood, vinyl or Camaro. I like the appearance of the shine but practically I believe an medical facility should have anti-slip safe flooring, so I will stick with my decision of anti-slip.

I like the blue paint with the varnished wood in the centre and at the end of the pharmacy as well as the black metal shelves. Even though I like the low hanging lights, I think this could be a safety issue as people can hit their heads. As a result of this, I will use fixed spotlights to the ceiling. I have noticed that there is a section of the floor that is a different material, parallel to the front desk. I think the rug has been used as a walkway for the customers so they can clearly see the desk and where they have to wait to be served. I will have an anti-slip walkway parallel to the tills from the front door.

I am intrigued by the signage because it is clear to everyone where the resources are. Therefore, I will have clear signs to tell the customers where things are in the store, this includes the tills and the shelves. I like the multiple spotlights with the square fixtures. I don’t like how grey this picture looks this could be because of the reflection from the flooring. I also don’t like the mix between futuristic materials and natural materials. As a result of this, I will only use futuristic materials like steel and crystal, as is says on the competition brief.

I think that there are lights underneath the shelves because this draws your attention to the products available. I like the colour used as this is commonly used to show where a pharmacy is on a map. The white gloss design and the green lights creates a slick and futuristic design. From this image, I can tell that this pharmacy is widely accessible due to the circular structured ramp and the wide aisles. For my project, I will ensure that the floor is all one level and the doors are wide enough for buggies and wheelchairs.

Flooring, walls and doors

In a medical facility hygiene is crucial to reduce the risks of spreading infections. This  is why Altro are one of the best companies to use because they specialize in this sector. I have also chosen Altro because they have a range of products I can choose depending on the environment and I don’t have to coincider the price because the price doesn’t come into the competition.

Sustainability is one of my key factors when designing my pharmacy because in order for the design to be successful, it should meet the needs of the people without harming the environment. They do this by having their flooring 100% recyclable so there is little to no waste, therefore it isn’t harming the environment with the plastics in the products, this is why I chose Altro.

All the different types of wall cladding is easy to clean and they have a high resistant to chemicals, they also all have a 20 year guarantee and a life expectancy of 25 years. I would like a satin or a high gloss for the cladding. This means that I have more variety when choosing a wall cladding. By choosing an Altro cladding, this allows me to have a hygienic and safe environment, which I need for the Pharmacy. I like that all the  information is in the table. This makes it easier to read and compare the products, compared to if the information was in several paragraphs.

In my Pharmacy I am having the colours: Urban, Echo, Clarity, Mint and Cesco. On the shop floor I will have Urban, Clarity and Cesco. In the room with the safe the walls will be Cesco. The walls of the staff room will be Echo and the colour of the toilet will be Mint.

I will have a digicam design in the children’s play area to draw their attention to it and this helps to create a calming environment to relax the children and keep them occupied. I will have a mural of zoo animals created and use that for the digicam. My main goal is to make a calming environment for everyone, so by having a mural on the wall and a dedicated play area, then the children should be at ease until they have collected their prescriptions.

I don’t like the design of the door because I don’t like the reflection and the door handle. Therefore, I wont be having this style of door. Even though I don’t like the design of the door, I would like to have an Altro door and I know there are other styles available.

I will have a door made with the 4th pattern and I wont have the large door handle on it, instead I will have a slick designed handle, made of steel. The colour of the door will be a cream to make the room seem lighter also cream goes with everything. I chose a cream instead of a white because the white may be too bright. I will have these doors for the: confidential room, toilet and the staff room. For the door to the safe the door will be cream, but it wont have windows and it will have an extremely high level of security.

 

I will put the colour Twilight on the shop floor either side of the anti- slip walkway. In the confidential room, safe and staff room there will be the colour fog. I chose this light grey colour because it fits in with my grey colour scheme, also I am not overly concerned with the flooring because it isn’t the main focus point of the Pharmacy.

For the toilet I have chosen the colour Dragonfly, which is 3 across and 2 down. I chose Altro Aquarius because it seemed liked the most suitable flooring to have for the toilet. This is because it has anti- slip properties and it is ideal if water gets on the floor from the sink, therefore it is less dangerous because people are less likely to slip and cause an injury. I chose this light blue colour because it reminds me of water, possibly because of the name Aquarius. This specific shade of blue is calming and it fits in with my colour scheme. I don’t have to focus much on the toilet and the staff room because these facilities are only for the members of staff.

These diagrams show the materials in the Vinyl and how it is deemed safe. By showing the materials involved you can clearly see which materials have been recycled and how this is benefiting the environment. I like the diagram because it helps me to understand the properties of the flooring. From looking at the diagram I am certain that Altro is the safest choice for the flooring because of the technology involved to make it anti-slip.

I am having the colour Blackbird for the anti-slip walkway that is parallel to the front door. I will also have this flooring behind the counter to create a safe environment for the staff, which is anti-slip. I chose this colour because the colour scheme looks futuristic with the dark grey, the specks of grey and white with the glitter.

 

 

 

 

Storage

I like that are multiple shelves because you can keep more medication on them, but I don’t like how difficult it must be to find what the staff are looking for. This is why I will have wider gaps between each medication shelf. I think that it is a good idea to have each section labeled to make it easier to find what you’re looking for, therefore I will have my shelves labeled as well. I like the metal shutters to keep the medication safe so I will have shutters, but mine will be automatic and made out of steel. They will also be security protected and extremely heavy to prevent break-ins and theft.

For the space behind the counter that the tills are on, I will have these acrylic clear shelves to store patients medication that is ready for collection. This is because they have ordered it online or phoned up for their prescription. Instead of having shelves with  compartments I will have acrylic draws. This is so that the staff can easily see the patients name, also because the prescriptions will be organized by their surnames.

I will have this for the storage of patients medication going along the wall at the back of the Pharmacy, behind the desk. I chose this because I think it is a great way of maximizing the space I have available. I would like the shelves clearly labeled and colour coordinated in order to organize the medication by name. This will make the medication easier to find and this will reduce the time that people have to wait for their prescriptions.

I like that there is a lot of storage for pharmaceuticals because if I was to have this storage, then I will be able to put more stock on the shelves and therefore make more money for the pharmacy. Also because the stock will be dispersed it will be easier to find for the customer. I will mostly be storing: pain relief, birth control, antiseptics, throat sweets, hay fever tablets medication, cold and flu relief, various cough syrups, Vicks Vaporub, mentholated products, sun cream, sanitary products and a variety of moisturizers. I will have the white backgrounds with the glass shelves but I will be having sheets of steel instead of the varnished wood.

 

Primary research

For my primary research I decided to interview my dad about what flooring would be the most suitable, because he is a floor layer, the text below is his response.

•  Acoustic floor if you have neighbouring retail environments. (sound proof).
• Floors and Whiterock have to be MRSA resilient (Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus). Disease free environment crucial in medical facilities.
• Altro Whiterock in any colour- Can get a digicam of any image in PDF. Possibly a calming image of a scenery for tranquility. Even a mural or animals created in Illustrator and exported for the children’s play area.
•  Welded joints for the walls to make everything sealed to prevent infections from coming through.
• Cap and coved flooring up the wall 100mm behind the Whiterock.
• Thermo welded angles (internal and external).
• Altro ceiling.
• Polyfloor flooring (look at pattern book).
• Polyfloor PU ( wipeable and MRSA resistant)- use for the children’s area or the waiting area. Able to steam clean the walls if necessary.
• Lazer cut motif- any design you want put into the flooring.
• Altro plastic molded chairs- bolted down.
• Behind the counter: anti- slip floor. Altro anti- slip vinyl,  contains cobalt and other anti- slip properties.
•  No trip hazard- all one level (accessibility- wheelchairs and buggies).
• 1.5-2m (width) anti- slip walk way parallel.

Doors

I like these doors because they look secure and less likely to break. All the doors I have chosen are automatic wide double doors. This is because accessibility is key in this environment, specifically for wheelchairs and buggies. The windows look like they are double or even triple glazing.

These doors look like they are automatic but they open outwards instead of across, I prefer the appearance of the doors that open across. This door looks thin and fragile, I wouldn’t choose this for the pharmacy because an intruder could easily break through the glass to steal medication and pharmaceuticals.

I like this door the most because it looks the most modern and appealing to me, because of the steel frame. I would like this even more if the glass was one way to increase the security so people were less likely to break in. The use of more windows allows more light to pass through and make the pharmacy seem brighter. The light door frame with light coloured walls will make the pharmacy seem more sterile and clean, which is what I am after. This means that this is my chosen door for the entrance of the pharmacy. For the entrance and exit for the staff, they will use the designated fire exit at the back of the pharmacy.

 

Heating/ air conditioning

This is a water filled underfloor heating instillation. This is what I will have instead of an air conditioning unit and a heater. If I was to have a radiator there could be a chance of people getting burnt. I think that underfloor heating will be safer and more cost effective.

I will have this as the air conditioning unit because it is a minimalistic design so it won’t take up much space on the wall. Since this style of air conditioning is quite new it will be under warrantee if there are any problems. I think that the unit will be more advanced and energy efficient compared to older models.

Security

This is an IP security camera that allows you to record in complete darkness. Another benefit is that the camera can rotate to 360° and it has a tilt range of -10° to 90°. This camera even has a feature called ‘smart tracking’ this means that it can automatically track specific targets like humans and vehicles. Even though I like the features of the camera I am aware that the aperture range is between F1.2 and F4.4, this will mean that there is a shallow depth of field but it will allow more light in. Therefore I am indecisive about this camera.

I think this would be suitable for the alarm system of the shop floor. I like the slick design and that the alarm is in a dark grey. The alarm will keep the shop floor secure because the majority of the medication will be in the safe.

I think this type of security will be more secure for a home compared to a retail environment, especially where people’s medication is involved even though I like the design of the product.

This palm vein reader doesn’t look like it is the most secure method of security because it  looks old and outdated. I would prefer a newer model to make sure that the money and the pharmaceuticals are kept safe.

I prefer this palm vein reader compared to the other one because it looks more safe and secure. Therefore it has a better chance of keeping the money and the drugs secure.

I like the idea of the finger vein reader because it is smaller than the palm vein reader. However, I am not confident that this is more accurate and therefore secure. For convenience I think that the vein reader will be easier to access the computer systems with. Or even use this piece of technology to scan the customers for their personal details  and ensure that they get the correct prescriptions required. Instead of using it to access the safe.

 

Seating

This chair looks as if it should be an office chair because of the structure of the arms and the frame of the chair. I get the impression that it is comfortable because the chair curves in the same shape as a spine. Although the chair seems practical I don’t like its appearance, so I won’t be using it for the future pharmacy.

I know from experience that siting on one of these chairs is frustrating when someone on the opposite end is fidgeting because it makes the whole bench move. This is why I am deciding on having individual chairs. I like the steel used to create the chair, however it doesn’t look very comfortable to sit on.

I will have this chair for the waiting room, as well as in the confidential room and the staff room. have chosen this design because I like the colour of the fabric and also the way that the chair arms are connected to the legs. I like this instead of the all metal seating because it can easily be moved around the shop floor if it needs to be. From the appearance of the chair, I think that the material used is a faux leather. The colour of the material also perfectly fits in with my colour scheme.