Meet the Maker: Alda Ly

The Tia Take

Alda Ly is founder and principal of ALA, the badass architecture firm that collaborated with us to bring our vision for the expanded Tia footprint to life. A deep listener with a highly intentional process, Alda tells us about her #TheMakingOf the newest Tia clinic in Silver Lake.

To be painfully obvious, it’s been a tough year for everyone and while we’re not out of the woods, we’d love to know what healing means to you? How do you define it?

Healing to me means working towards getting back to the space and place where I feel inspired, strong, and energized. It’s not only a physical process, but a mental and

In our world whole-person healthcare is the concept that we treat the person not just the patient.

emotional one as well. During the pandemic, it’s been hard to feel accomplished or even motivated with all of the extra responsibilities at home and work, and having my home/work worlds colliding. What helps me heal is a combination of exercise, cooking, therapy, and being creative.

How does design play a role in healing and find optimal health on our terms?

Health and healing is as much about the mind as it is about the body, and design influences our minds, our moods and our feelings tremendously, whether or not we’re consciously thinking about it. I’m a big believer in healing through Biophilic Design in particular -- that nature, and in turn the patterns, sounds, light, smells that remind us of nature,

Taking a walk in a forest is amazing for the soul. It turns out that, even if you can’t do that, just inspiring similar feelings while indoors is also healthy.

heal and re-charge us.

How does being a woman (patient and mamma) shape your approach to design and your work with Tia?

At ALA, we always start our work thinking about the everyday experiences of the people who inhabit our spaces, so of course designing for Tia was tremendously personal for me (and my team of amazing women). Unfortunately we’re all too familiar with the kind of dreary experience that women’s health experiences often turn out to be. I gave birth twice in the past two years, which means LOTS of doctors visits--and while I’ve had amazing doctors, I’ve always received care in uninspiring, grey spaces. And everyone at ALA has had similar experiences. So designing Tia was almost a selfish exercise -- we wanted to design the experience we would want for ourselves.

Let’s talk about the newest Tia clinic - Tia, LA - what was your big picture goal for the space?

While we’ve got a number of exciting projects in development with Tia, LA is particularly exciting for us. We see the LA clinic as a community hub for women’s health and the Silver Lake location couldn’t be a better fit. The LA space is also a dream from a design perspective because it has a beautiful back patio that looks over the Hollywood Hills. We knew outdoor space would be especially important to Tia’s community in the time of COVID, so we really leveraged it as an extension of the space for members and Tia’s staff.

What is your favorite design/architecture moment within the space?

The view when arriving at the front desk is pretty epic… You’re blanketed with daylight from the skylights above and can peer down the arched corridor through the boldly-colored waiting area all the way to the lush garden in the back overlooking the hills -- it’s very Tia!

What’s something most people won’t notice, but they should?

We made a point to designate personal space for members within the exam rooms so you’ve got a space to change, leave your belongings, and refresh after an exam that’s private and exclusively yours. We hope this blends in seamlessly with the rest of the Tia experience, but it was a space we really spent some time on. Also, in the exam rooms, we also made sure to hide as much of the clinical tools and implements as possible from view to create a calming experience.

What do you hope people feel when they are able to spend time with us?

Calm, comfortable, taken care of, and inspired.

One thing, we’d love to learn a little more about is biophilic design and how you worked those principles into our space?

When people hear the term ‘biophilic design,’ they often think of lush plants, green walls, hanging planters, etc. While we love how greenery feels and makes a space come alive, our team prefers taking a deeper dive into how we can incorporate

Biophilic design considers how humans connect with nature in physical spaces. It has proven health benefits like stress reduction and improved cognitive function!

biophilic design beyond just adding plants.

Referencing a lot a really great research and guidelines by Terrapin Bright Green, some examples of how we incorporated biophilic design elements include using

Light and shadow that change throughout the day from skylights

dynamic and diffused light, visual connection with nature, and calming views.

How can we mimic the same lush plant-filled vibe in our own spaces?

There are very easy and inexpensive ways to bring biophilic design to your own spaces. Of course, use live plants if you can! Bring in the scents and sounds of nature with a diffuser, opening windows when possible in order to feel a breeze or see your curtains gently moving, using natural materials or materials with naturally-occurring complex patterns, and incorporating soft curves in furniture and artwork.

Join #TheMakingOf in real time, with live brainstorms, polls and more ways to co-create with us on Instagram.

The Making Of