Asthma and Allergy Office Search
They say pictures are worth a thousand words. The great
architect Le Corbusier is quoted as saying “I prefer drawing to talking.
Drawing is faster, and allows less room for lies.” I find that is so appropriate
when I am working with clients looking for office space. Until a client’s wish
list is translated to a floor plan there is a lot of room for lies.
After touring the market for an appropriate location for my
client's asthma and allergy practice we came to an agreement on terms with the
owner of the Musgrove Medical Arts Center. It appeared that a suite once
occupied by an orthopedic practice was about the right amount of space for
their program. The doctor's provided me with a simple and very helpful wish list.
After a number of initial schemes, we settled on a good
overall layout.
Two areas stood out as needing further attention. The area
for the doctor’s offices and the nurse’s station - lab area. Both of those area’s
needed to be locked and access to them protected.
The office area was easy to resolve, expanding the third office
to eliminate a dead end hallway and picking up an additional window. This
expansion office area turned out so nice one of the physicians choose it as her
office. Locked doors at certain points and a separate staff entrance were a must.
The nurse’s station – lab area went through a couple rounds of design
development. It was central to the function of the office yet it had to be
secure and the lab area had an additional level of security. The sketch below shows
the detailed development to ensure there was room for the refrigerator.
After all plan layout issues were resolved, flooring and
other finishes were chosen. What type of surface do you want in a lab area? If
someone drops a vile you don’t want it landing on a hard surface that may cause
it to break but carpet is definitely a no-no. Luckily there are some great new
floor surfaces.
From wish list to final plan we packed a lot of
function into a small suite but left no room for lies.