Keßler Plescher Architekten designed the first LAB for the healthcare start-up AWARE in Berlin. The company provides services based on blood tests such as comprehensive information and guidance to improve well-being.

The design and layout of the lab seek to facilitate the idea of integrating this service into peoples lives at a very prominent location: Clients come here to have a blood sample taken - a service that takes usually part in a doctors office. The design aims to create a positive experience for the clients since probably very few people ever had a blood sample taken in a place that actually felt comforting and looked good.

The place presented itself with a number of load-bearing pillars that had to be integrated into the layout of the design and a facade on two sides facing both the Rosenthaler Strasse as well as the Auguststrasse.

The booths are arranged at the rear side, the steelframe doors follow a zig-zag line. The glass-panes are treated with plastic foils functioning as a mirror from the outside. From the inside the glass doesn’t reflect but allows to look all the way to the other side of the street.

This way the process of having a blood sample taken in the middle of the city becomes a very public experience for the clients without giving up their privacy. Anyone standing on the outside of the cabins will see the city reflected in the mirrors.

Mirror-polished stainless steel is arranged with leather and polycarbonate panels to give the place a sterile yet lab-like appearance. Wooden chairs complement the set-up.