Santa María Pharmacy, a temple dedicated to health

Year: 2011. Sales Area: 170m2. Location: Barcelona, Spain.

An example of how to create a brand in the pharmacy world based on a creative redesign project for a retail outlet.

“A temple dedicated to health” – this was the creative concept that we developed to transform the pharmacy run by Jordi Orrit and his partner Celia Rovira under the Farmacia Santa María brand.

The “A temple dedicated to health” concept was born out of two unique features of this pharmacy. The first, the name of the street where it’s located: Calle Santa María. The second, the Benedictine monastery, the main tourist attraction in Sant Cugat del Vallés. Based on these two elements and with the help of the client, we focused on identifying the “saints” of Medicine, the men and women who made valuable contributions in the pharmacy world: Pasteur invented the rabies vaccine; Felix Hoffman synthesised aspirin; John S. Pemberton was the pharmacist who invented Coca-Cola; Hahnemann was the father of modern Homeopathy. Now we had a story to tell.

A new image, spatial organisation and way of presenting the product based on categories. We tried to transmit the sensation of a pharmacy that was concerned with all that is natural, with tradition, modern with chic touch. To bring the pharmaceutical service closer to the customer. To break with traditional pharmacy design based on selling from behind a counter.

We took maximum advantage of their existing resources. Some of the furniture we painted, lighted and restored. The copper boxes, the main display cases, the wall on the right side and the children’s area is new. The pointed arches gave it a touch of the “gothic” temple. The tables made out of tree trunks create a strong image of nature. The graphic design was inspired by the work of Gustav Klimt, a wink at the building’s modernist architecture. The lighting and colour, in tandem with the creative concept, were the main design tools for improving the shopping experience and the visual appeal of the pharmacy.

Carlos Aires: Creativity, Design, Visual Merchandising and Project Management. Elena de Andrés: Illustrations and Sketches. Mª del Pilar Portela: Architecture, Production Management and Set Up. Aires Photo Spirit: Photography.