Flow before layout
In a clinic the plan is a consequence of the flows. Four of them have to be resolved, and they have to cross as little as possible.
- Patient flow. Entrance, reception, waiting, consult, procedure, billing, exit. A patient should never have to walk back through waiting to get to billing, and should never pass a soiled utility door.
- Staff flow. A separate route from a staff entrance to the clinical areas that does not pass through the waiting room. In a small clinic this is a door, not a corridor, but it must exist.
- Clean supply flow. Sterile and clean stock from a store to the point of use without crossing a soiled route.
- Soiled and waste flow. Biomedical waste in colour-coded bins, to a holding room with its own access, without passing a patient waiting area. This is a regulatory requirement, not a preference.
- Infectious patient route, where relevant. A separate waiting bay with its own ventilation and a direct route to a consulting room, which after 2020 most clinics want designed in rather than improvised.
Surfaces that survive disinfection
| Element | Specification | Why the usual choice fails |
|---|---|---|
| Floor | Homogeneous vinyl sheet, welded seams, coved 100 mm up the wall | Tile grout is porous and the floor-wall junction collects |
| Wall, clinical areas | Antibacterial laminate or PVC-faced panel to 1,800 mm, epoxy paint above | Emulsion cannot take daily sodium hypochlorite |
| Wall, waiting areas | Washable acrylic emulsion with a 1,200 mm crash rail | Trolleys and wheelchairs destroy plain plaster within a year |
| Ceiling | Sealed gypsum in clinical rooms, accessible grid elsewhere | An open grid ceiling in a procedure room is a contamination path |
| Counters | Solid surface with an integral coved upstand, no joints | Granite with a silicone joint fails at the joint in six months |
| Doors | Flush, laminate-faced, with a stainless kick plate and a 300 mm vision panel | Panelled doors have ledges and a rebate you cannot clean |
| Hardware | Lever handles with an antimicrobial finish, or sensor operation at scrub points | Round knobs cannot be operated with an elbow |
| Junctions | Every wall-floor and wall-wall junction coved, radius 25 mm minimum | A square internal corner is the hardest surface in the building to clean |
Every surface in a clinic is a cleaning decision
Technical rooms
- X-ray and CT. Lead shielding thickness is calculated by a qualified radiation physicist from the equipment output, occupancy of adjacent spaces and workload. It is a design input you obtain before drawing the wall, and the AERB approval depends on it. Doors, viewing windows and cable penetrations all need matching protection.
- Dental operatories. Suction, compressed air, water and a dedicated drainage route with an amalgam separator, all in the floor or a wall chase before anything is tiled. Retrofitting these costs more than the chair.
- Minor OT or day-care theatre. A modular panel system, HEPA-filtered supply with a defined air-change rate, positive pressure relative to the corridor, and a hermetically sealing door. This is a specialist package, typically ₹4,500–₹7,000 per sq ft on its own.
- Laboratory. Chemical-resistant worktops, fume extraction where required, an eyewash point, and a drainage line that is separated from the domestic run.
- Sterilisation. A one-way flow from dirty receiving through washing and packing to sterile storage, with a physical separation, not just a notional one.
The waiting room is a clinical decision
Patients judge a clinic by the waiting room and staff are judged on how quickly they can clear it. Both are design outcomes.
| Element | Target | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Seats per consulting room | 6 – 10 | Higher for paediatrics and diagnostics where a companion attends |
| Area per waiting seat | 14 – 18 sq ft | Including circulation and a wheelchair space at every 10 seats |
| Seat type | Wipeable, armrests, 450 mm seat height, some without arms | Armrests help older patients rise; some patients cannot use them |
| Reception counter | Two heights: 1,050 mm standing, 750 mm seated or wheelchair | A single-height counter excludes someone in every session |
| Acoustic privacy at reception | Reverberation under 0.6 s, plus a discreet position for sensitive conversation | Overheard medical conversation is a confidentiality failure |
| Lighting | 300 lux ambient, warmer than clinical areas at 3500K | A 5000K waiting room feels like a laboratory |
| Handwash or sanitiser point | At entry and at every 12 seats | Visible, plumbed where possible |
Accreditation does not fail on the equipment. It fails on a square corner in a treatment room, a ledge above a door and a waste route that crosses the patient path.
Greenbox commercial fit-out lead
Rates by department
| Department | ₹ per sq ft, ex-GST | Excludes |
|---|---|---|
| General consulting and polyclinic | ₹1,800 – 2,400 | Medical equipment, furniture |
| Dental clinic | ₹2,400 – 3,400 | Chairs, compressor, autoclave, imaging |
| Diagnostic and imaging | ₹2,800 – 4,200 | Modality equipment; includes shielding civil work |
| Physiotherapy and rehabilitation | ₹1,800 – 2,600 | Equipment |
| IVF, dermatology and day-care procedure | ₹3,200 – 4,800 | Procedure equipment |
| Modular operating theatre | ₹4,500 – 7,000 | Surgical lights, table, gases |
Ex-GST. Includes civil, finishes, joinery, electrical, HVAC coordination and medical gas rough-in where applicable. Excludes all medical equipment.
Services a clinic needs that an office does not
The engineering behind a clinic is where most first-time operators underestimate the budget. Six items recur, and all six have to be designed before any finish is chosen.
- Medical gas, where applicable. Oxygen, vacuum and medical air in copper to a defined standard, pressure-tested and certified, with alarm panels. Even a day-care clinic with two recovery beds needs the rough-in built into the wall.
- Backup power with a defined changeover time. A UPS for anything that must not drop — imaging, refrigeration, the server — and a generator behind it. The changeover time is a clinical specification, not an electrical one.
- Separate drainage for the lab and the dental chair. Chemical and amalgam waste must not enter the domestic run, and an amalgam separator is a legal requirement at a dental operatory.
- Ventilation with defined air changes and pressure relationships. Procedure rooms positive to the corridor, isolation and soiled utility negative. This is the item most often discovered after the ceiling is closed.
- Biomedical waste holding. A ventilated, washable room with its own access and drainage, sized for the collection frequency, with space for colour-coded bins.
- Nurse call and staff attack alarm cabling run before the walls close, even if the system is installed later.
Where we work
We design clinical interiors nationally and build them across Mumbai. For converted flats in societies, BMC health licensing and local rate bands, see clinic interior designers in Mumbai. Itemised budgets are on clinic interior cost in India.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
What does a clinic fit-out cost per square foot?+
₹1,800–₹2,400 for general consulting, ₹2,400–₹3,400 for dental, ₹2,800–₹4,200 for diagnostic and imaging, ₹3,200–₹4,800 for day-care procedure areas and ₹4,500–₹7,000 for a modular operating theatre, all ex-GST and all excluding medical equipment.
What flooring should a clinic use?+
Homogeneous vinyl sheet with welded seams, coved 100 mm up the wall so there is no floor-wall junction to collect. Tile is acceptable in waiting and circulation areas but not in clinical rooms, because grout is porous and the junction at the wall cannot be properly disinfected.
Who designs the lead shielding for an X-ray room?+
A qualified radiation physicist, from the equipment output, the workload and the occupancy of adjacent spaces. It is an input to the architectural drawing, not something derived from it, and the AERB approval depends on it. Doors, viewing windows and every cable penetration need matching protection.
Does designing for NABH cost more?+
Eight to fourteen per cent on the interior package — coved junctions, sealed ceilings in clinical rooms, separated clean and soiled routes, a compliant biomedical waste holding room and documented surface specifications. Retrofitting these after the fact costs several times that and closes the clinic while it happens.
How many waiting seats does a clinic need?+
Six to ten per consulting room, more for paediatrics and diagnostics where patients arrive with a companion. Allow 14–18 sq ft per seat including circulation, with a wheelchair space for every ten seats and a two-height reception counter at 1,050 mm and 750 mm.
Can a clinic be built in an existing commercial floor plate?+
Usually, provided three things work: a drainage route for the wet areas and any lab, sufficient electrical capacity with a route for a backup supply, and a ventilation strategy that can deliver a separate air path for any infectious waiting bay or procedure room. Those three should be checked before the lease, not after.