CDE Clinic

CDE Diabetes Clinic
[PROJECT DESCRIPTION]

This project was completed as a group effort between the 2nd and 3rd year students.
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The CDE (Centre for Diabetes and Endocrinology) was established in 1994, with the view to introduce much needed higher levels of care for persons with diabetes mellitus in South Africa.

CDE tasked us to create a test kitchen for people with diabetes of any age to attend workshops and learn how to cook easy, healthy, delicious, diabetes-friendly recipes. In addition to this kitchen, YouTube cooking sessions would be held where streaming would take place of an instructor cooking. The idea is that the kitchen appears to be a scene out of a picture-perfect home.
Whilst designing the kitchen, note needs to be taken on the boardroom adjacent to the kitchen where it is used multifunctional as a meeting space and also a group seating area for individuals who wish to obverse the kitchen.
They wish to keep the design modern whilst including their signature corporate identity.

SPATIAL REQUIREMENTS [KITCHEN]
    Cooking space for 8 people
    These individuals would need to face the instructor
    x2 individuals would share a 4-burner hob and one oven. Therefor, 4 hobs and             4 ovens.
    Basics would need to be provided below individuals and easily found
    Include 1 double sink
    Include space for fridge and microwave

Initially, we were tasked to design this space with a budget in mind of R350 000.

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OUR OUTCOME
At first glance we already decided that the existing layout was not optimal. Having a gym adjacent to the kitchen where streaming would happen is not ideal for reasons being, the smell and it is distracting. Thus, the ideal was to move the gym as far as possible from the kitchen.

The kitchen was kept in its original place as the plumbing was already located there. The Boardroom was kept next to the kitchen which allowed for it to be used as a multifunctional room. BDA (2022) identify a dietician as a nutritionist that specialises in food nutrition. They advise diabetics on diets and lifestyle changes; they need to make to help improve digestive problems and other health issues. Therefore, the Dietitian offices were placed near the kitchen. This will allow for the design of a feature wall near the Dietitian offices which can display recipes of healthy food that can be taught to Diabetics in the test kitchen.

THE KITCHEN

The original concept of the kitchen layout had the instructor facing the Boardroom to allow for participants to view part of the cooking lessons from the Boardroom. This however created some problems with the cabinet design (as no back wall of cabinets could be fixed to the glass wall) and it did not allow for enough space for the camera crew or instructor to work.  It was decided to rotate the kitchen layout and replace the swing doors with glass bypassing doors that will ensure no space is wasted. The new layout allowed for the kitchen cabinets to become the backdrop of the kitchen as well as the feature wall. The back wall of cabinets is in the colour petrol blue to bring in the blue colour, a colour associated with CDE. However, the petrol blue of the cabinets is quite dark, and it was decided not to use it throughout the kitchen. The four ovens used by participants are located on the left side of the cabinets. The meetup area for participants that contains the kettle, beverages, etc. is located on the far right of the cabinet wall. Both these spaces will allow for participants to stay mostly out of view in YouTube Videos.

The instructor island has a wooden finish that separates it from the blue cabinets. This will make it more visually appealing on YouTube Videos. The participant islands are designed with the gas hobs on opposite sides of each other. This will allow participants to easily cook food without being in each other’s way. Their cabinets are designed to be open in the middle which allows for blenders/mixers/other kitchen equipment to be stored for easy access. Each kitchen island has plug points on the counter available for the kitchen equipment’s usage. A big bulkhead extent from the ceiling with built-in extractors that will extract the steam. Track lighting within the kitchen allows the instructor and camera crew to adjust the lighting as needed for the YouTube Videos. The participant’s islands differ from the instructor’s island in colour, which visually differentiates between the instructor and the participant’s island.

THE BOARDROOM

The Boardroom is a multifunctional space located next to the kitchen.  Its main use, as the name states, is a space for Dietitians or biokineticists to meet up with Diabetics in group settings. A stacking glass door separates the Boardroom from the kitchen. This allows for the Boardroom to be opened up and to be used as a seating/waiting area for participants of the cooking lessons. The Boardroom space can also be transformed into a dining space for participants after the cooking lessons. This is accomplished by using a custom-designed folding Boardroom table. The oak Boardroom table can be folded and stored when it is not needed, when the space will be used as a waiting/viewing/seating area for participants.  For the stacking glass doors, a frosted film is suggested to allow for privacy when needed. Two of the three walls within the Boardroom are painted blue to correspond with the kitchen colours. A wall of acoustic tiles is introduced to allow for some absorption of sound.

BIOKINETICS OFFICE

The Biokinetic offices are placed next to the gym. These offices, however, are bigger than the Dietitian offices, as it houses more furniture. A green panel back wall is introduced in the Biokinetics offices to promote peace and ease the Diabetics’ nerves (Moffitt Cancer Center, 2018). The same furniture that is used within the dietitian offices is used in the Biokinetic offices to create unity within the design. A light curtain separates this furniture from the bed to allow for privacy. A floor-to-ceiling wall mirror is introduced on the entrance wall of the Biokinetics office, this will make the space appear bigger as well as bounce the light throughout the space. A small blue carpet can be seen in every office, this reminds the users of the CDE colours and is used to reduce some of the stress that the Diabetics might have (Moffitt Cancer Center, 2018). A one-way glass wall separates the Biokinetic offices from the gym. This will allow the biokineticist to see into the gym and spot any unused equipment before taking their patients to the gym for some tests.

GYM

The gym that is located on the far end of the corridor makes use of a sliding barn door as an entrance door. The glass wall that separates the gym from the Biokinetic offices does not allow the gym users to see within the offices as it is one-way glass, this allows for privacy within the offices. The wall opposite the entrance is finished with tropical wallpaper which provides a nice scenery for gym users. The ceiling within the gym is dark, this allows for an intimate gym experience as well as keeps the gym users focused on their exercises. The tile will be demolished within this space and the gym floor will be screeded to allow for future flooring to be installed easily. The two smaller walls within the gym will consist of floor-to-ceiling mirrors which will elongate the gym as well as allow for light to bounce throughout the space.

Blue strips of paint will be painted on the back of the feature wall near the entrance. These paint strips will have room names painted on them and will be used as a form of wayfinding.

Blue strips of paints will be painted on the back of the future wall near the entrance. These paint strips will have room names painted on and will be used as a form of wayfinding.