INTERIOR: A SPACE FOR STRENGTH

A Space for Strength

How Design and Medicine Align at This Modern Menopause Clinic

When Dr Fatima Khan set out to create her own clinic dedicated to women’s hormonal health, she knew she wanted to challenge everything the traditional medical setting represented. After years in stark hospital environments, Dr Khan envisioned a sanctuary where midlife wasn’t seen as a decline but a transition to power.

“I wanted the clinic to feel more like an extension of my living room than a consultation room,” she explains. “A space that was bold, calm, and comforting. One that affirmed to women that they are seen, heard, and supported.”

She collaborated with interior designer Nickolas Gurtler, known for blending elegance with emotional resonance. Together, they created a space that merges warmth with authority, softness with structure.

Designing with Emotion in Mind

“We wanted to shift away from the sterile, clinical feel,” says Nickolas. “Instead, our focus was on warmth, comfort, and dignity.”

At every stage, Dr Khan’s values guided the process. Her desire for emotional safety informed material choices and layout. “From the beginning, Dr Khan spoke about wanting the space to feel like a home,” Nickolas adds.

The design is layered with symbolism. Burgundy tones appear throughout, rich, grounded, and transformative. Red doors signal thresholds, symbolic of moving into new chapters. In the waiting area, a custom sofa and soft textures invite women to settle, not pass through.

More Than Aesthetic. A Clinical Philosophy in Practice

Dr Khan’s clinical philosophy is grounded in the belief that hormonal health is both physical and emotional. “Our hormones respond to what we see, feel, and hear,” she explains. That’s why the space includes soft lighting, textured surfaces, fresh flowers, gentle music, and a curated bookshelf filled with literature by and for women.

“Healing doesn’t just happen through medicine,” she adds. “It happens through environment, through emotional safety, through care.”

A New Standard for Women’s Health Spaces

One of the most striking features is the reception desk, carved from Rosso Levanto marble. “It has a kind of gravity to it,” says Nickolas. “It’s strong, unapologetic, and sets the tone that this clinic is about strength and dignity.”

Materials throughout were chosen to avoid the overdone “feminine wellness” aesthetic. “That visual language didn’t reflect the depth of Dr Khan’s work,” says Nickolas. “This space needed to mirror the complexity of midlife transitions.” For Dr Khan, that meant creating a space where women felt seen. “This chapter of life is when women step into their fullest wisdom,” she says. “The space needed to reflect that, not neutralise it.”

Personal Touches, Powerful Presence

The clinic is shaped by small, deliberate gestures: velvet sofas, fresh flowers, and art honouring the female experience. “Growing up, I watched women transform with red lipstick, it wasn’t vanity, it was power,” says Nickolas. That confidence flows through lounge-like spaces and quiet, supportive touches. As Dr Khan continues to advocate for hormone education and mental health, she says the space had to reflect those same values.

“Every touchpoint mirrors our mission, to offer holistic, personalised care, grounded in empathy and knowledge.” That mission now lives not just in her words, but in the walls themselves: in the red doorways, marble lines, and the books women take home. “This is what women deserve,” Dr Khan says. “To walk into a space that reminds them they’re not fading, they’re arriving.”

Facts & Figures

Name: MENOPAUSE CLINIC

Owner: DR FATIMA KHAN

Location: CREMORNE, VIC

Size: 95 sqm

Number of rooms: THREE

Number of staff: TWO

Interior Inspiration: BOLD, BEAUTIFUL, WISDOM, ELEGANT, CALM