Daawai: The new face of modern pharmacies | Pharmacy & Medicine Store in Dhaka
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
May 30, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2025
Daawai: The new face of modern pharmacies

Habitat

Kaniz Supriya
28 March, 2023, 11:00 am
Last modified: 28 March, 2023, 05:32 pm

Related News

  • Public hospitals to open pharmacies offering low-cost medications
  • Saline shortage prevails in private hospitals, pharmacies
  • Putin says Russian pharmacies are short on some medicines
  • 3 drugstores adjacent to Dhaka medical allowed to remain open for 24 hours
  • Drug stores near hospitals may remain open by rotation after midnight

Daawai: The new face of modern pharmacies

Breaking away from traditional designs, Daawai features a soothing and cosy environment. The interior is designed to explore inner wellness

Kaniz Supriya
28 March, 2023, 11:00 am
Last modified: 28 March, 2023, 05:32 pm
Color psychology is very important when designing a shop, which is why a pastel palette and shades of green has been used by the architects. It radiates positive and tranquil energy. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto
Color psychology is very important when designing a shop, which is why a pastel palette and shades of green has been used by the architects. It radiates positive and tranquil energy. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

It's hard to imagine hospitals and pharmacies as happy places. But the negative feelings people often associate with them are nowadays being addressed with modern interior designs, which favours light and bright colour schemes. This not only highlights the architectural and artistic designs of the space, but it also aids to stimulate a patient's recovery.

This change, over the years, has been observed in hospitals throughout the city. But the same cannot be said for drugstores. 

Every time one pictures a local pharmacy in the country, we naturally think of tons of medicines piled up on transparent shelves, and the space lit by very underwhelming general lighting.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto
Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

Breaking away from this pattern, Daawai, a chain pharmacy, features a soothing and cosy environment. The interior is designed to explore inner wellness.

Daawai opened its first outlet in December, 2022. It sells both medicine and FMCG (Fast-moving consumer goods) products. The design was conceptualised by Prachya architectural and interior consultancy firm.

Located in the capital's Lalmatia, Daawai has a floor space of around 390 square feet. The design uses a colour pallet of soft shades of green, blue and white. The colours are broken up by glossy champagne-coloured metal lines. 

"Understanding colour psychology is very important when designing a shop, which is why we went with a pastel palette and shades of green. It radiates positive and tranquil energies," said Sahar Malik, the lead architect of Prachyo.

The space lets in a lot of daylight; so no artificial light is needed during the day. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto
The space lets in a lot of daylight; so no artificial light is needed during the day. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

The pharmacy is divided into two sections – a space for FMCG, and a medicine section. Upon entering the premises, you are met with a waiting zone, facing the Lalmatia park, which features a low seating arrangement. Instead of external chairs, the architect used fixed seating.

On the left of the waiting area is a wall beautifully decorated with indoor plants and hanging filament bulbs. The FMCG section is located right in front of the entrance, and includes products such as packaged food, toiletries, and personal care products.

"We did not want to keep any medicine near the entrance. The FMCG section provides a feel-good factor for the customers," said Sahar.

The medicine section is near the reception area. Unlike the FMCG section, these products are not kept within the customers' reach. 

"Ensuring functionality with modern aesthetics was a big priority for this design. There is no additional storage room in the pharmacy, so we made the shelves lofty enough to accommodate everything, and dispersed enough so that they do not block the park view," said Sahar.

Sahar also tried to keep horizontal shelves simple, and mostly played around with the decorative lighting and the vertical shelves to create geometric patterns. 

The reception table is constructed in a similar fashion to the seats, it is fixed to the floor. There is also a white panel at the corner of the reception – it is clearly visible from the entrance, and includes the name 'Daawai', glowing with illuminated letters. The back is used to house a refrigerator and a space for storage. The medicine is stacked behind the reception desk.

Every time one pictures a local pharmacy in the country, you think of medicines piled up on transparent shelves, in an open shop. There’s where Daawai took a different route. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto
Every time one pictures a local pharmacy in the country, you think of medicines piled up on transparent shelves, in an open shop. There’s where Daawai took a different route. Photo: Junaid Hasan Pranto

One of the challenges of designing the store was the floor. The space included only white tiles. But Sahar wanted to use a pastel green floor in the waiting zone. She had used epoxy paint to colour these tiles.

The space lets in a lot of daylight; so no artificial light is needed during the day. Only after evening are the lights turned on, the colour tone of which have also been carefully selected.

When it comes to general lighting, Sahar implemented white illumination for functional efficiency. The ambient lighting is done with warm tones. In the reception area, there is this big chandelier ring light which lets the staff choose between three different tones: white, warm and cool warm.

The ceiling has been kept minimal. There are some diagonal graphics, and uses false ceilings only where it is needed.

"The height of the space was not very high. Thus, we avoided holistic false ceilings which could make the space feel small and claustrophobic," explained Sahar.

Visitors often mistake Daawai for a restaurant when looking at it from the outside. Overall, the design is symphonic, soothing, and one of a kind. 

Features / Top News

pharmacies / Daawai

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    'Heavy to very heavy' rainfall expected across country as land depression weakens further
  • Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks at a roundtable discussion organised by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) at its office in Tokyo on 30 May. Photo: UNB
    Prof Yunus seeks Japanese investment to boost Bangladesh’s recovery drive
  • News of The Day, 30 MAY 2025
    News of The Day, 30 MAY 2025

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: Courtesy
    New notes featuring historic, archaeological structures of Bangladesh to be circulated from 1 June
  • Two Memoranda of Understanding were signed at the seminar titled “Bangladesh Seminar on Human Resources,” in Tokyo on 29 May 2025. Photo: CA Press Wing
    Japan to recruit 100,000 Bangladeshi workers over next 5 years
  • BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
    BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
  • Representational Photo: Collected
    Country's all jewellery shops to remain indefinitely closed in protest of VP Reponul's arrest: Bajus
  • Khondoker Rashed Maqsood. File Photo: Collected
    Investors urge removal of BSEC chairman in meeting with CA’s special assistant, submit list of demands
  • Illustration: TBS
    Bangladesh repays $3.5b foreign debt in 10 months of FY25

Related News

  • Public hospitals to open pharmacies offering low-cost medications
  • Saline shortage prevails in private hospitals, pharmacies
  • Putin says Russian pharmacies are short on some medicines
  • 3 drugstores adjacent to Dhaka medical allowed to remain open for 24 hours
  • Drug stores near hospitals may remain open by rotation after midnight

Features

Babar Ali, Ikramul Hasan Shakil, and Wasfia Nazreen are leading a bold resurgence in Bangladeshi mountaineering, scaling eight-thousanders like Everest, Annapurna I, and K2. Photos: Collected

Back to 8000 metres: How Bangladesh’s mountaineers emerged from a decade-long pause

3h | Panorama
Photos: Courtesy

Behind the looks: Bangladeshi designers shaping celebrity fashion

5h | Mode
Photo collage of the sailors and their catch. Photos: Shahid Sarkar

Between sky and sea: The thrilling life afloat on a fishing ship

9h | Features
For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

1d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Six Lakh Sacrificial Animals Ready in Sirajganj for Eid-ul-Adha

Six Lakh Sacrificial Animals Ready in Sirajganj for Eid-ul-Adha

15m | TBS Stories
Six MoUs signed during Chief Advisor's visit to Japan

Six MoUs signed during Chief Advisor's visit to Japan

4h | TBS Today
Record migrant deaths in 2024

Record migrant deaths in 2024

23h | Podcast
Govt likely to trim subsidies in new budget

Govt likely to trim subsidies in new budget

7h | TBS Insight
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net