Luxury Wellness: Youth Lab x Nickolas Gurtler Interior Design

Striking a skilful balance between upscale modernism and inherent comfort, the design of a new cosmeceutical clinic exudes international luxury.

Perth-based luxury wellness and cosmeceutical brand Youth Lab has opened a new clinic in Claremont, with boutique Melburnian design studio Nickolas Gurtler Interior Design fashioning the interior space. From custom-designed furniture to a marble reception counter, each design choice embodies the brand’s commitment to ‘aesthetic confidence’ and luxury standards.

Settled within a heritage-listed house from the 1930s, the new space had to prioritise the comfort of patients without compromising the luxuriousness of the brand or the professionalism of the medical clinic.

With many patients experiencing anxiety about visiting clinics, whether due to unfamiliarity or vulnerability, the atmosphere had to be both welcoming and reassuring, underscoring the competence and skilful practices on offer. Though literally a clinic, the interior is far from clinical in aesthetics and atmosphere, with a warmth emanating from the rich brown flooring and textured furniture.

The design studio drew inspiration from luxury hotels and residences in New York, fashion boutiques in Paris, and wellness spaces in Los Angeles, drawing together these international strands into a worldly grandeur for the Australian brand.

Resonances between the artistry of Youth Lab’s procedures and the artisanry of the interior instil confidence in visitors, with Calacatta Viola marble, hand-finished stainless steel, and brushed brass all speaking to an overall commitment to detail in every aspect.

Rather than a traditional clinical waiting room, the studio reconceptualised the space as a parlour in a private residence, drawing the homely exterior into the clinic’s core. With plush velvet and bouclé upholstery, an art-silk rug, and artwork by Dina Broadhurst, the clinic could be mistaken for a stylish modern home.

As a cosmetic clinic primarily focussed on aesthetics, the motifs of beauty and vanity are threaded throughout the interior’s design: a collection of Jonathan Adler pottery, featuring faces and disembodied lips, plays with perception, symmetry, and identity.

Placed atop a custom-made table and beneath a commissioned Christopher Boots pendant light, the pottery is a focal point in the clinic’s entrance, forming an opportunity for admiration as well as a distraction from nerves.

The studio drew subtle, metaphorical links between the cosmetic skin procedures performed by Youth Lab and the carefully hand-trowelled Venetian plaster on the walls, evoking sculptural aesthetics across the entire interior space.

Youth Lab’s second clinic was completed in October of 2020, with the Nickolas Gurtler Interior Design studio working in tandem with the client to truly encapsulate the brand’s core values. The luxury, beauty, and modernism of Youth Lab is unmistakable in their Claremont location, enabling patients to engage with the clinic with confidence and comfort.