Location / Vancouver
Project Type / Commercial Interiors
Size / 880 sf
AeR Skinlab is a Vancouver-based cosmetic dermatology clinic situated in a cloistered retail
space in Arthur Erickson’s Waterfall Building. The modest 880 sf space is the brand’s pilot/flag–
ship location, and consists of three treatment rooms, a consultation space, and a reception
area.
The intention of the client was to provide their clientele with a space in which to feel a rejuvenat–
ing calm, a space that speaks of slowing down and returning to a more elemental state of being.
The architectural approach was to explore a sense of geologic time and groundedness through
monolithic form and monochromatic materiality to create a space that feels excavated from the
stillness of rock. The walls of the space are clad in locally quarried marble from Vancouver Is–
land, finished with a raked striation that creates a variegated texture with subtle fragility. The ex–
isting storefront glazing was replace with fluted glass, reinforcing the striated texturing of the
space, while also providing a sense of privacy for the clientele. To bring an element of life and
transformation to the space, a lightweight ceiling installation recalls the passage of water
through calcium, slowly growing organic forms that evoke the persistence of gravity, time, and
weathering. The ceiling installation consists of densely packed tyvek filaments which glow as
they diffuse light through their varying depths.
Leckie Studio was inspired by the Quarries work by Edward Burtynsky, as well as Matthew Bar–
ney’s The Order, from his work Cremaster Cycle 3
