Dose of positivity

19 : 01 : 2017 Zware Jongens : Soft Aid : Retail Experience

Bree, Belgium – Zware Jongens has created a pharmacy that is designed to make people feel positive about spending time in it.

  • The space has birch-topped plywood cabinets with rose pink and brass details
  • Customers can help themselves to fruit-infused water if they wish to stop for refreshment
Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium
Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium
Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium
Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium Van Dijck by Zware Jongens, Belgium

Pharmacy Van Dijck shuns a clinical whitewashed aesthetic in favour of colours that are warm, homely and associated with good health. In tandem, the space is open-plan and includes a refreshment station and an island counter that customers walk around.

‘More negativity than positivity prevails in the majority of pharmacies,’ says Filip Janssen of Zware Jongens. ‘The interaction is often impersonal and the environment is in most cases stereotypical, from material to lighting and so on.’

The pharmacy no longer has a cash register stand, so customers are free to move around the store. The idea is that people will feel more like they have been invited to stay in the space, rather than simply being there to make a purchase.

​The Big Picture

Healthcare brands and medical services are taking cues from the lifestyle industries and adopting a sensory aesthetic to destigmatise medical products and rebrand them as more human and emotional. For more, see our Soft Aid Inspire.

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