Two Doctors Who Want to Get Under Your Skin

Written by Trish Donnally Photography by Paul Burk

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Imagine working for a company that treated you, your guest and the entire staff to a cruise in the Bahamas. The folks at Cultura in Friendship Heights recently returned from a long, restful weekend of cruising where they listened to the sounds of the surf, felt warm sand between their toes and soaked up the rays. Well, they did the last while applying SPF 30 sunscreen regularly, of course. Cultura is, after all, a cosmetic medical spa, so sun damage was kept to a minimum under the watchful eyes of founders Drs. Eliot Battle and Monte Harris.

Cultura, which combines the luxurious pampering of a spa with a foundation of clinical results, was named Emerging Business of the Year by the Washington, DC Chamber of Commerce in 2003. Its co-founders approach the design of their spa with a creative touch, too.

Battle, a cosmetic dermatologist, skin laser surgeon and Harvard Fellow, is a clinical assistant professor in the Dermatology Departments at Harvard University and Howard University. Harris is a former assistant professor of facial plastic surgery at the University of Michigan, current assistant professor at Georgetown University in the Otolaryngology Department (head and neck surgery) and a professor in Howard University’s Dermatology Department.

“Design plays a big role in how our patients feel and how we’re able to deliver care,” Harris says. “From a design standpoint the fact that this environment has a soothing karma … goes into very deep and sometimes complex relationships. The aesthetics create this open platform for growth, for awareness. … I wanted people to be stimulated a little bit by the design.”

And who did he consult to design Cultura? Harris hired Tom Flanagan of Flanagan Architects and got a bit of guidance about the furnishings from his friend Deborah Kalkstein, owner of Contemporaria. But for the most part, he’s the man.

“I’m the undercover wannabe interior designer. I have 15 years of [back issues of] Met Home, House & Garden and Architectural Digest at home,” says Harris, who originally wanted to be an architect. “I was the kid who loved to draw. Now I’m an architect of faces.”

Harris blended different shapes, various textures, and asymmetry throughout Cultura to create a harmonious ambiance.

“There’s a certain aesthetic, whether it’s plastic surgery, design or fashion, where if you bring together things that are uniquely different and you can synergistically put them together, you end up getting a more pleasing outcome (than one that is perfectly symmetrical). My goal is to achieve that balance,” Harris says.

The mélange of curves and straight lines, soft forms and relaxing colors that surface throughout Cultura create a calming effect. The central corridor in the spa, as seen on the opposite page, features undulating curves along one wall and a straight line along the opposite wall. “We had a long narrow space to work with, adding the curves gave you the opportunity to make more of an event of the experience. It made the journey along the edge more dynamic,” Flanagan says.

Different shapes range from the curved custom-made maple and tempered glass counter by Congressional Cabinetry in the medical reception area to the stylish rectilinear chairs with curved armrests by La Palma in this room. Varying touches such as thick terry cloth robes, smooth river rocks in the sinks, cucumbers or orange slices in pitchers of water and aromatherapy in the air add to the allure of the medical spa.

The flow of the spa begins with the light-filled entryway where patients check-in or buy skincare products recommended by Drs. Battle and Harris. Pale blue walls delineate an area to the side for the state-of-the-art Visia Complexion Analysis machine, which examines a patient’s skin. It digitally captures a facial image, and then compares features to those of others of the same age, gender and ethnicity. This machine brings objectivity to skin analysis in the normally more subjective world of skin evaluation. Six variables are analyzed including pores, UV spots, wrinkles, evenness, age spots, and porphyrins (an acne indicator).

The central corridor leads to tranquil treatment rooms and a mini relaxation room. In the latter, patients rest on a cream leather chair beneath a floor lamp while viewing videos to learn about laser hair removal, Botox and Restalane procedures, which are the most frequently requested procedures at Cultura. Patients may also be treated with surgery, lasers, cosmeceuticals or prescriptions.

As one ventures deeper into Cultura, one moves from spaces where spa treatments such as facials and massages are given to an area where medical treatments such as eyelid lifts, earlobe repair and other procedures that can be given under local anesthesia are performed. Overall, Harris has created a space with an aesthetic that is conducive to relaxing patients and making them feel good about themselves and their personal space.

Harris says, “We want people to look good, feel good and use that energy to do something good.”