Renovations and Remodels for Commercial Spaces

I like to be in interesting spaces, all the time. When I find myself somewhere plain, I am too distracted by the different renovations and remodels (which I am designing in my head to utilize the unrealized potential) to get comfortable. When I don’t feel well, or am nervous about a procedure, it’s even more important. This is why I want to do more renovations, remodels, and commercial design for medical offices, creating atmosphere that is friendly and supportive.

Having the opportunity to completely remodel a busy dental practice was a wonderful surprise. But also having a great dentist to work with who was funny, warm, open and willing, with a super cooperative staff? That made it just about perfect.

Scope and Schedule. Everything had to go, but we had to keep the practice open. Commercial remodeling can be like that. Besides needing to explore the best color palettes and design, source the finishes, and also select a complete array of furnishings, art and accessories that we could get on time and budget, we also needed to schedule the best, most cost effective and valuable contractors. And in the case of keeping the practice open, we worked especially hard to find contractors who would do the hard work at nights, on long weekends. With perfect clean-up as they went. We had a double ground up challenge.

Painting. That was all done on weekends. Packing and prepping by the office staff, who could not have been more helpful, happened at the end of their busy days, or on weekends. Flooring – out with the old, ripping it all out, removing it to the right recycling facility – once again on weekends. Same with installing the new floor tiles and carpet. All dovetailing with the other workers involved, staging the steps in a way to keep each from interrupting each other’s workflow.

Furniture. All new furnishings, for the offices and lobbies, plus art and accessories. Task chairs for the offices that were adjustable enough for each person to be comfortable and productive, ergonomic computer stations. Re-furnishing a lunch room so it can do double duty as a conference or training space. All had to be staged and ready to be put in place.

Product. The mood we aimed for was serene, pretty, peaceful and interesting for patients. Work stations that were comfortable, storage that was adequate and covered, for staff. Treatment rooms that were well lit, safe and functional for doctors and hygienists.  The ultimate goal — adding value to a business by making customers, and staff feel supported and nourished by their surroundings. We think we got it.

Edy Keeler was invaluable in helping transform my dental office. She was very organized and paid attention to detail. Caught a lot of things that I would never have thought of. And, her sense of style and scale was matched by her understanding of the functional aspects of my practice. The icing on the cake is that we had so much fun in the process!

-Dr. P