STUDIO ALUC Scatters Four Volumes to Tame Sea Winds at Funamoto Dental Clinic

Four staggered volumes, shaped by strong winds off the Sea of Japan, form the new Funamoto Dental Clinic in Uchinada, Ishikawa Prefecture. STUDIO ALUC designed the 262-square-metre building, completed in 2025, handling everything from the architecture to the interiors and custom furniture.

The site itself posed the first problem. It's an irregular triangle, and the Hokuriku region brings overcast skies and coastal gusts that sweep in from the sea. Rather than fight those conditions, the architects let them generate the form. The clinic reads as a cluster of separate structures from the street; inside, the four volumes connect seamlessly as a single piece of architecture.

According to the architects, the overall form "emerges from a dialogue between an exterior configuration derived from site conditions and an interior that accommodates both the functional requirements and comfort of a dental clinic." Subtle shifts in angle, height, and roof pitch do double duty: they let the building "gently receive and release the strong coastal winds," and they bring what the firm calls a quiet rhythm to the surrounding townscape.

How does the interior work?

The plan is strict about separation. Reception, waiting area, treatment rooms, laboratory, and staff spaces are clearly organized, and circulation unfolds as one continuous sequence. Patients move deeper into the building without crossing paths with staff. Corridors bend through a series of obtuse angles, so the view ahead gradually opens and changes as you walk.

Wooden louvers, expressed as part of the roof structure, run across the ceiling in differing orientations, introducing soft variation overhead. Layered natural light and indirect lighting warm the generous ceiling height and timber surfaces. The architects say this lighting strategy "softly eas[es] the quiet anxieties that accompany dental treatment" — a direct answer to the fear that keeps many people out of the dentist's chair.

The palette keeps things calm. White walls dominate, with exposed structural timber forming the ceiling louvers. Warm wooden finishes appear at the reception counter and waiting seats, and beige-toned fabrics in the waiting area and children's space create what the architects describe as an atmosphere that feels "clean yet gently enveloping."

What does this change for small-clinic design?

STUDIO ALUC positions the project against purely functional healthcare buildings. "Funamoto Dental Clinic is not an architecture driven solely by functionality or efficiency," the firm states. Instead, it balances openness with delicacy, considering how both patients and staff can feel at ease and secure.

The building also sets its ambitions beyond its walls. It aspires, in the architects' words, "to remain a gentle presence within the everyday townscape, continuing to connect people and healthcare as part of the life of the community." Kenta Hasegawa photographed the project.

For other practices working on tight, oddly shaped medical sites in harsh coastal climates, the clinic offers a working model: let the wind, the site, and the patient's nerves shape the plan together.