BUILDING YOUR OWN ORTHODONTICS OFFICE
BY JACEK & SUSANNE Slizynski / INDESCO inc.
Orthodontics Office Design Specialists

Welcome back to our yet another area of Orthodontics office design as we will focus our attention on a subject of new office construction.We have been assisting orthodontists for almost 18 years in assembling a design team, preparing documentation and cost control associated with this type of building project.

Site selection tips :

We suggest that you hire a consulting firm to research possible sites for you. Select a firm that provides both surveying and civil engineering. The survey will provide you with the actual property boundaries, which sometimes differ from the plot map provided by your real estate agent. They can also provide grading requirements, etc. The civil engineering is the most important aspect of the site research. You will want the civil engineer to provide you with at least the following information:

1. Set- backs, parking requirements, landscaping and how much of the property can actually be built on, in other words how big of a building can you build on the site, will it accommodate your needs?. What shape can the building have and will it lend itself to a functional layout?.
2. What upgrades does the City or Building Jurisdiction require for the property and what range of costs are involved in these improvement. Some sites require traffic controls studies, you may have the first building on the street and you may be required to bring in power lines and utilities.
3. What kind of environmental issues are related to the site. The civil engineer can look at past records to determine if chemicals have been stored on the site, determine soil suitability, etc.

Select a small firm to do this preliminary work for you. These services can run from $1000.00 for preliminary research to $1,500.00 for complete site plans. You may use an architect to coordinate this for you .

Securing services of Architectural and other design professionals :

Since not many architects specialize in orthodontics office design I recommend that you employ services of a design firm that is fluent in the design or orthodontics office design. You'll benefit greatly by having a team on board that is familiar with your needs.

In most states you can have all construction drawings prepared without engaging the services of an Architect. You can use a building designer or a structural engineering firm .

The most important is the size of the firm you select. You need to find a small architectural firm , (a single person practitioner is best) since most of the time you will be able to save large amount of design fees as compared with a larger firms and get a lot more personal attention.

As an example we had two projects in the same city. For the first project we have selected and coordinated the design team for a 5,000 s.f. Orthodontics & Dental Office and our fees along with the architect's came in to just under $ 6.00 per sq. foot. The second project involved our client's selection of a larger architectural design firm. The project was 4,500 s.f. and the total architectural fees alone were at $ 13.00 per sq. foot.

The key issues in selecting a design architectural services are:

1. Obtain a written design proposal outlining the services to be provided and how much they will cost you. Ask the firm if there are any additional services that may be required to complete the project and how much they will cost.
2. Have a consultant that specializes in Orthodontics office design review your project. (You will find that we provide a wealth of direction and resourcefulness to our clients).
3. Review the design professional's portfolio to see if they are creative and have a compatible sense of style. Have a good idea of the kind of building details you would like to incorporate so that they know what the scope of work may be.

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In the next article we will discuss Construction and Contract Administration process.

We will gladly assist you in interior space planning and other design related decisions regardless of your location, please contact us through
e-mail : plan@indesco.com
telephone: 503 .629. 5150 to discuss partial or full interior design service proposal.

For more information about our design services please refer to our Web Pages at :

http://www.indesco.com/~plan

Wishing you great success,
Jacek Slizynski, interior designer, NCIDQ certified#8607
Susanne Slizynski,designer Indesco inc.