An Earthy Calgary Clinic That Tells a Story

When Botox-wary designer Amanda Hamilton first started seeing nurse practitioner Twyla Black for injectables, it was preceded by ample research to find someone she connected with and trusted. The relationship they forged paid off, and Hamilton followed Black when she branched out to start her own brand, Noir (a play on her last name), because, as with design, medical aesthetics is personal, so when you find someone you connect with, it’s worth hanging on.

Thus, when Black decided to move to a new space, it made sense that she would put her trust in Hamilton’s firm, Amanda Hamilton Interior Design, to bring it to life. Initially, Black envisioned bright, fresh, and white, much like many other bars and medical aesthetic clinics. But seeing a market oversaturated with such spaces, Hamilton’s team instead pitched an earthy hotel lobby-inspired clinic, one that better tied into the brick-clad building and the brand itself. “We looked at the name and kind of unpacked that deeper,” the project’s lead designer Kadie Hilario says. “We’re like, well, it just is natural for us to do something a bit dark and moody.”

Now complete, the 2,000-square-foot Calgary clinic layers sumptuous materials, curved lines, and warm lighting that make its visitors feel at ease, no matter their gender or comfort with injectables. In the reception and waiting area, espresso-coloured walnut panelling complements rich terra cotta limewashed walls. Under the soft fluttering light of gauzy drapery, a long custom sectional winds through the space. A rich, chocolatey-brown velvet bench tucks into a nook in the tiled reception desk beneath a playful pendant with a petalled shade.

In the centre of the lobby, counters clad in peach fluting are versatile and can be used for product display or refreshments during events—after all, this is a space that merits hanging out in. Against one wall, the dark wood retail display features a corrugated wood backdrop for the products and the occasional potted plant. A luxe round sink allows shoppers to try out the creams and other products before their purchase. In the hallway leading to the treatment rooms, sculptural curved pendants sway gently in the breeze of the HVAC system, a “happy accident” that adds to the experience, Hamilton says.

Brighter lighting and tones were required in the back rooms, but the designers ensured a cohesive flow by adding elements from the front area, like the vertical narrow tiles, millwork (this time in a lighter tone), and green and marble accents—“little nuggets” that run through the spaces to connect them, Hamilton notes.

“I kind of feel like creating something beautiful is a low-hanging fruit for designers,” she says. “Anybody can create a beautiful space, but how do you make it beautiful, functional, and also have some depth in terms of what the story is behind the space?”

At Noir, one such story is told through the materials. From smooth marble to rough plaster to lush velvet, the plethora of textures reflects the variations of our skin—pores, scarring, acne, and all. Likewise, the curves throughout the space, including on the custom sofa, fluted oval display counters, and circular pendant lights, add to the narrative. “The human body is curvilinear, the face is curvilinear—it would have felt strange to have everything just very rectilinear in this space, when we’re talking about something that actually feels a bit more fluid,” Hamilton says. “So there are a lot of sculptural elements in there, but there’s also a lot of contrast.”

Ultimately, her personal experience in Black’s chair—of course, coupled with designer Hilario’s keen eye—helped the Amanda Hamilton Design team understand exactly what visitors and clients would need and want from the clinic’s interiors.

“This is vanity bringing us here. We want our skin to look beautiful. And so I think the idea about it being moody and darker was also like, you often come out looking a little bit like a hot mess,” Hamilton says. “We walk out of these clinical appointments, and we’re beet red, and we’re walking into this bright lobby. I think a little bit was about this natural transition of, yes, the treatment rooms are brighter because the practitioners actually need some light to see what they’re doing, but it’s this soft release into the world.”

Photographs by Eymeric Widling.

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