PAZÓ Laboratory Pharmacy: blue-blooded health

Year: 2017. Sales Area: 50m2. Location: Monforte de Lemos, Galicia. Spain.

The oldest Pharmacy in Monforte de Lemos

Planning the commercial space.

Have you ever stopped to think who is the real owner of your pharmacy?  Is it you? Pharmacies belong to their customers. We base our planning of the commercial space on this idea.  We were clear that it must no longer be a "shop counter pharmacy".  Enlarge the space devoted to the customer by reducing the space devoted to the back room and storage.

The layout of the space is designed to create a clear, easy and highly professional shopping experience. Bringing together self-service shopping with the dispensary in the sales room. A pharmacy that pays special attention to cosmetics, medicines, and that undertakes pharmaceutical compounding in its laboratory .

To create a clear and memorable route along a long and narrow space is always a challenge. To highlight the skin cosmetics products we decided to place them on the wall to the right, next to the first counter. Based on this philosophy of displaying the best products in the best spaces, we decided to devote the whole right-hand area to display medicines and offer the pharmaceutical customer service there. The left-hand wall is for categories such as wellness, first-aid, oral hygiene, products for the elderly and the waiting area.

A notable feature is the central column, designed with a dual function. Firstly, this displays the product(s) that is/are on special offer and secondly, it conceals the Ideal cabinet which is used for skin cosmetics customer service and treatment.¬

Positioning and creative concept

One of the most important parts of any project is to define the brand positioning and the creative concept. To do this, it is vital to understand what it is that makes the pharmacy different, what its competitors are like and what the image that has to be created must be. 

Size really is important when it comes to selecting positioning. The smaller the space, the greater the degree of specialisation has to be and the clearer the image that the pharmacy has to convey.

The concept arose through listening to the customer, observing his collection of pharmacy jars, his history and business mission.  In this way, the concept of the "Laboratory Pharmacy" came about. We wanted to get back to the pharmacy's roots and link that to its main segment, medication.  The coat of arms in its logo and the fact that the pharmacy dates back to 1842, the oldest pharmacy in the city of Monforte de Lemos, reinforced for us the idea of aristocracy, a pharmacy with blue blood.

Colour, light and other features of the design

Inspired by the colour of some of the old laboratory jars, to support the creative concept "Blue-blooded health", and create a memorable visual impact, we took the bold step of using cobalt blue as the pharmacy's colour. Just as important as the colour is the selection of the materials that serve as the point of contact between the customer and the brand. This all contributes to creating the shopping experience. 

Imitation concrete porcelain tiles, installations in full view for the air conditioning system, furniture made from machined wood, a chest of drawers for medicines with a metal finish, retro illuminated panels, seats in the waiting room made from oak with velvet upholstery. LED lighting and a sign that incorporates the outline of a medicine jar to make the shopfront even more attractive.

The Pazó Laboratory Pharmacy is an elegant, original, daring and contemporary space. A designer pharmacy crafted from the heart.

Carlos Aires: Strategy, creativity, design and general management. Elena de Andrés: Sketches and artistic illustrations. Natalia Aires: Corporate image. Mercedes Robles: Project Management . Xiang Sun: Technical design. Visual Merchandising: Pazó Pharmacy Team and Carlos Aires . Photography: Luis Sanchez de Pedro Aires.