Architecture

The Obagi Skin Health Institute

Horst Architects have designed The Obagi Skin Health Institute in Laguna Beach, California – a boutique medical, retail and educational facility.

Two principal walls of silver travertine organize the interior and exterior spaces while also reflecting the subtle, corporeal contours of the skin. Natural light enters the interior spaces through continuous fissures where these walls meet the ceiling planes. The continuous dance of light and shadow on the stone walls create what Le Corbusier once described as the “correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.

The choice of materials reflect an interest in both sustainability and timelessness. The unfilled silver travertine walls, while given a decidedly modern expression in this project, also are associated with classical architecture going back to the Romans, reflecting a timeless interest in health and beauty. The wood planks are composed of a sustainable and maintenance free composition of wood-based fibers and thermosetting resins. The soft, warm tactile quality of the wood planks create a sensuous juxtaposition to the stone. Smooth, integrally colored stucco walls are the more neutral, connective tissue between the stone and wood plank walls.