The exterior of your practice makes a strong impact as it sums up the quality, style and philosophy of your business. By Kerryn Ramsey
A striking exterior with strong design elements is a sure-fire way to make your dental practice stand out-and attract prospective patients. Whether it’s a new surgery with a contemporary look or the historic exterior of an older property, a paint job, new signage and fresh landscaping can revitalise the building.
The exterior is the face of your practice, which eventually brings the outside inside. It sums up your dental philosophy-and that’s why cracked paint, bad graffiti or dated signage spells disaster. Unfortunately, it’s easy for exterior problems to go unnoticed when you’re rushing to work. Perhaps it’s time to stand outside and look at the building with fresh eyes.
Even if you don’t notice any immediate concerns when it comes to the appearance of your exterior, it could be important that you take the time to regularly keep it clean and appealing to the eye, as if it’s not, you could face the possibility of losing new clients.
Practitioner Jayson McNaughton of Casey Dental Group is well aware of the visual impact of his practice. Situated on what was once a vacant block on a major freeway in Narre Warren South, Victoria, the practice was designed and built from scratch.
“The building has a very impressive facade facing the road,” says Dr McNaughton. “It has a high dominating front that slopes away towards the back of the building. It makes it look like a two-storey building when it’s not. The building has a real presence and is a bit of a landmark in the area.”
After graduating in 2003, Dr McNaughton bought his own practice, Webb Street Dental, in 2006. The practice expanded so quickly-with 12 dentists and 20 nursing staff on board-that the business soon outgrew the premises. Servicing a patient base of more than 35,000, he turned to Medifit back in 2008 to design and construct a brand new practice.
Dr McNaughton purchased a 4000-square-metre site with excellent exposure to the adjacent freeway. The vision for Medifit’s architectural design team was to create a building that would not only be a state-of-the-art dental facility but would catch the eye of passing motorists.
Opened in 2011, the contemporary surgery accommodates 10 chairs that can all operate at the same time for maximum efficiency. “There are five surgeries on either side of the building and they all look out over garden areas,” explains Dr McNaughton.
Medifit’s managing director Sam Koranis refers to Casey Dental Group as “a landmark project for Medifit”. It’s “a single storey, yet presents as a larger built form through raking walls,” he says. “The set-back from the road was 25 metres and needed to be as high as possible, and the silhouetted canopies create great shading for the surgeries to ensure the east and west sun didn’t create a negative impact to all the garden aspect surgeries.
“We introduced bold colour panels to create impact, and the building takes on a different appearance in the morning, afternoon and night. It gives the practice a unique visual signature and creates a strong first impression,” says Koranis.
The significance of having a striking exterior was always on Dr McNaughton’s mind during the design phase. “I wanted the building to create as much of a presence as possible but still stay within local council guidelines. Ultimately, we had to drop the height of the roof because of neighbour objections. We’re in a low-density residential area and I can’t deny that our building does stand out. However, I’ve got to know the neighbours quite well and they now seem happy to have our practice nearby.”
In this purpose-built practice, the exterior design is perfectly reflected in the interior. A sleek contemporary look flows through the whole building with large windows, plenty of light and seamless surfaces. Having redone the exterior of the building has also helped with cooling and heating, as the sharp and clean look helps to reflect a decent amount of the harsh sun that Australia is known for.
“It’s a nice place to work and a nice place to visit the dentist,” says Dr McNaughton. “Patients love the design and there’s no doubt our dramatic exterior directs a lot of passing trade through our doors.”
While Casey Dental Group embraces the contemporary, high-tech feel, a Western Australian practice, The Dental Quarters, has a more old-world charm.
Located in the Perth suburb of Claremont, the practice has rebelled against the clinical look of many dental practices. That’s partly because of its rich background-the property was once the Princess Theatre, built in 1914 and still in the historic Old Theatre Lane. In fact, the practice’s lab and plant room were originally the old projection room.
Dr Stephen Chan, who grew up in this area, was determined to utilise all the mod-cons without losing the property’s charm. “When we started pulling it apart, there was an original pressed-tin ceiling. It had rusted but was intact. For the floor, we had to strip out old carpet, then tiles and then concrete to get to the original jarrah floorboards.
While there was a touch of Hollywood glamour to the exterior, a revitalisation was in order. Positioned in the laneway and situated on the first floor, the practice’s entrance was the side of the old theatre.
“When we lifted up the floorboards, there was a big hole. According to some clients’ grandparents, there used to be a staircase so wealthy people could wait upstairs before the show started.”
The original timber-and-glass doors were restored, with The Dental Quarters logo added as a bold decal. The doors open to a mix of framed vintage movie posters and antique French lounges. “We wanted the shock factor. It’s not uncommon for people to come in and question if they are really in a dentist’s practice,” says Dr Chan with a laugh.
To bring together this look, he hired interior designers Anthony and Natasha Connor of Ego Squared who introduced a colour palette of grey, gold and bronze. Dr Chan was thrilled although his family were rather surprised.
“I wanted to make sure my practice didn’t have the traditional blue, white and grey palette. Coming from a very dental family-my uncle and grandfather are orthodontists and my wife Lydia is also a dentist-I needed a fresh look.”
From the romance of the Old Theatre Lane entrance to the original glass doors that lead into the retro-inspired interior, this is not your usual practice. These unique qualities set the business apart from competitors and are easily remembered by prospective clients.
