The premises decide the plan
Before any layout, we survey four things about the building. Any one of them can make a promising unit unworkable.
| Premises type | Typical area | What works | What stops you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Converted society ground floor | 450 – 900 sq ft | General practice, dental, physiotherapy, dermatology | Society consent for commercial use; fixed drainage; residents’ objection to patient footfall |
| First floor above a shop on a high street | 500 – 1,200 sq ft | Polyclinic, diagnostics, small day-care | Staircase width and the absence of a lift; noise from below |
| Unit in a mixed-use tower | 700 – 2,500 sq ft | Diagnostics, IVF, multi-speciality | Landlord fit-out manual; shared toilet cores; limited electrical load |
| Standalone commercial building | 1,200 – 6,000 sq ft | Day-care surgical, imaging, full polyclinic | Cost per sq ft of rent; lift capacity for a stretcher |
| Hospital floor plate | 3,000 sq ft+ | Anything, with proper services | Availability and price |
Society consent, and why it comes first
- Non-residential use of a flat needs the society’s written consent, and in many co-operatives a general body resolution rather than a committee decision. This is a matter of weeks and it happens before the lease, not after.
- Patient footfall is the objection you will actually face. Residents worry about strangers in the lobby and the lift. A separate ground-floor entrance, clinic hours agreed in writing and a patient waiting area inside your premises rather than in the lobby resolve most of it.
- Signage will be restricted. Expect a nameplate to a specified size at the gate and nothing on the elevation. Design the identity around a well-lit entrance instead.
- Parking is contested. Agree a visitor parking arrangement in writing or accept that there is none, and tell patients before they arrive.
- Biomedical waste collection has to be discreet and scheduled. A registered collector, a fixed slot outside peak resident movement, and a holding room with its own door inside the clinic.
- Water and electricity metering. A clinic uses more of both than a flat; a separate meter or an agreed apportionment prevents a running dispute.
A consulting room inside a 1974 society building
What the fixed drainage position allows
In a converted flat the drainage is where the original kitchen and bathrooms were, and it cannot move meaningfully. That single fact decides the plan.
- The sluice, the lab sink and the dental chair go on the existing wet wall. Anything requiring a floor drain or a soil connection has to sit within a few metres of the existing stack, with a 1:40 fall available.
- The dental chair needs more than water. Suction, compressed air and a drainage line with an amalgam separator, all run in the floor build-up or a wall chase. In a society flat the floor build-up is usually 50–75 mm, which is tight but workable if it is planned.
- Patient toilets go where the original bathroom was. Widening the door to 800 mm for wheelchair access is generally possible; moving the WC is generally not.
- A hand-wash basin in every clinical room still has to drain somewhere. Where a room is far from the stack, a wall-hung basin with a boxed-in waste run at high level and a concealed pump is the usual answer, and it must be accessible for service.
- Air conditioning condensate. Four or five indoor units in a converted flat produce a surprising amount of water, and the original balcony drain is usually the only legal route for it.
Access, which is a clinical issue
| Element | What to check before the lease | The usual Mumbai reality |
|---|---|---|
| Approach from the gate | Level or ramped at 1:12 maximum, 1,200 mm wide | A 150 mm kerb and two steps; a ramp is usually buildable |
| Lobby to lift | 1,500 mm turning space for a wheelchair | Often below it; a folding chair and a staff escort is the practical answer |
| Lift car | 1,100 × 1,400 mm minimum for a wheelchair | Older society lifts are 900 × 1,100 mm and take no chair at all |
| Lift door clear width | 800 mm | Collapsible-gate lifts in 1970s buildings are 700 mm |
| Clinic entrance door | 900 mm leaf, outward opening where possible | A 750 mm residential door; replacing it is usually permitted |
| Emergency egress | Two routes from any occupied room where possible | One staircase; this constrains what procedures can be done on upper floors |
We have walked away from three otherwise good Mumbai clinic units because the lift could not take a wheelchair and there was no other way up. That is not a design problem you can detail around.
Greenbox commercial fit-out lead
Rates by suburb and department
| Department | Western suburbs ₹/sq ft | South Mumbai ₹/sq ft | Thane / Navi Mumbai ₹/sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|
| General consulting and polyclinic | ₹2,300 – 3,000 | ₹2,800 – 3,800 | ₹2,000 – 2,700 |
| Dental clinic | ₹2,900 – 4,000 | ₹3,400 – 4,800 | ₹2,600 – 3,500 |
| Diagnostic and imaging | ₹3,400 – 5,000 | ₹3,900 – 5,800 | ₹3,000 – 4,400 |
| IVF, dermatology, day-care procedure | ₹3,900 – 5,800 | ₹4,400 – 6,600 | ₹3,400 – 5,000 |
| Modular operating theatre | ₹5,500 – 8,500 | ₹6,000 – 8,500 | ₹5,000 – 7,500 |
Ex-GST. Excludes all medical equipment. The Powai band of ₹2,300–₹3,000 for general consulting work sits inside these figures.
Programme under society hours
Eight to sixteen weeks depending on department, working 10am to 6pm with no Sunday work. Two items set the critical path and neither is joinery: any lead shielding, because the physicist’s calculation and the AERB submission precede the wall, and the medical gas rough-in and test, which has to be certified before anything is closed. We sequence a Mumbai clinic so the noisy demolition falls in the first two weeks, which is what the society actually cares about, and the rest of the programme is quiet.
Making a small Mumbai clinic feel larger than it is
On a 600 sq ft floor plate every room has to earn its area twice, and patients still have to feel that the place is calm and properly run. Six moves do most of the work.
- One combined consulting and examination room, screened rather than partitioned. A ceiling-mounted curtain track and a 1,500 mm examination zone gives clinical privacy without a second door and a second circulation allowance.
- Reception, records and billing in one 1,800 mm counter. Two working positions, a 750 mm low section for wheelchair and seated use, and closed storage below for records.
- Waiting seats along the wall, not in blocks. Perimeter seating in a small clinic keeps the centre clear for a wheelchair or a trolley and makes the room read as wider than it is.
- Borrowed light between rooms. A 300 mm high clerestory of obscured glass above the partition brings daylight into an internal consulting room without any loss of privacy.
- Full-height storage in the corridor, 350 mm deep. Consumables, linen and files stored along the circulation route rather than inside clinical rooms, where they defeat the cleaning specification.
- One ceiling plane, one floor material. Changing either between rooms in a 600 sq ft clinic chops it into fragments. Continuity is what makes small premises feel ordered.
The clinical design principles
Flow separation, surface specification, cove radii, technical room requirements and department rate logic are the same everywhere and are set out on clinic and hospital interior design. Itemised Mumbai budgets are on clinic interior cost in Mumbai.
Selected work by Greenbox Design Studio. Tap any image to enlarge.
Frequently asked questions
Can I open a clinic in a residential flat in Mumbai?+
Often yes, with the society's written consent to non-residential use — in many co-operatives that means a general body resolution, not just a committee note. Expect restrictions on signage, agreed clinic hours, a waiting area inside your premises rather than the lobby, and a scheduled arrangement for biomedical waste collection.
What does a clinic cost to build in Mumbai?+
₹2,300–₹3,000 per sq ft for general consulting in the western suburbs, ₹2,900–₹4,000 for dental, ₹3,400–₹5,000 for diagnostics and ₹5,500–₹8,500 for a modular operating theatre. South Mumbai runs 15–20% higher and Thane and Navi Mumbai 10–15% lower. All ex-GST, excluding medical equipment.
Why does drainage limit a clinic layout so much?+
Because in a converted flat the soil stack is fixed in a shaft you do not control and the branch needs a 1:40 fall. The sluice, the lab sink, the dental chair and the patient WC therefore all have to sit near the original wet wall. Hand-wash basins further away need a boxed high-level waste run with a pump, which has to remain accessible.
What access should I check before signing a clinic lease?+
The approach from the gate, the lift car size and door clear width, and the entrance door leaf. Older Mumbai society lifts are often 900 × 1,100 mm with a 700 mm collapsible gate, which takes no wheelchair. If there is no alternative route, that unit cannot serve patients with mobility needs and no amount of interior design fixes it.
How long does a Mumbai clinic fit-out take?+
Eight to sixteen weeks under 10am–6pm society hours. The critical path is usually lead shielding, because the radiation physicist's calculation and the AERB submission precede the wall, and the medical gas rough-in and certification, which must be complete before anything is closed. Joinery is rarely the constraint.
Do Mumbai clinics need a BMC licence?+
Yes — a BMC health and trade licence, inspected against the layout, the wash-up and sluice arrangement and the staff facilities, plus registration under the Clinical Establishments framework, a biomedical waste authorisation with a registered collector, and AERB approval for any imaging equipment. Design for these rather than around them.