DentalChat

I was just surfing the web (like I have time to do that!) and found a dental forum called DentalChat I think its great to have many places to turn to ask for information - other peoples experiences are invaluable when it comes to make a decision.

It’s also great to have a place relatively anonymous to ask a dumb question - always better to ask a dumb question than make a stupid mistake!



Oh where, oh where did 2008 go….?

2008 went extremely quickly and we are almost half way through January 09 already! Well, this year promises to be the best year yet (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!).

Unlike a lot of our mining industry friends, we have not, as yet, been affected by the ‘economic downturn’. We assume that the projects that we are working on have been in the pipeline for a long time and we won’t feel the effects for a while (hopefully, not ever!).

Last year ended with a flurry of work both from our dental/medical and non-dental/medical projects. We are looking forward to it continuing this year. In our sight, in particular, is the 33rd ADA Dental Congress & Exhibition

Yes, Ego Squared will be there! We will be helping out on the Dentpro stand - if you’re going to be in Perth for this, we’d love to meet you!

That’s the biggest thing on our horizon at the moment - in regards to projects, we are just getting back into the new year (we are following the lead from our construction counter-parts who generally take a good couple of weeks to get back into the swing of things).

I do have a lot of catching up to do with updating the site, in both content and latest projects, but I look forward to letting you know all the latest as soon as I can!



Australian artist releases studio collection

Dawn on the Margaret River by Ken Rasmussen

Dawn on the Margaret River by Ken Rasmussen

Australian landscape painter, Ken Rasmussen, has just launched his own website selling his studio collection direct to the public.

For those of you interested, much of Ken’s work features Margaret River, Broome, Kimberley and Rottnest landscapes.

I find Ken’s landscapes atypical of the landscape genre. His colour palette is just extraordinary.

I’d be delighted to base a surgery design around one of his landscapes! What could be better than the escape of a fabulous painting to take some of the stress of you day.

For those of you who haven’t finished your Santa duties, check out Ken Rasmussen!



Thinking Green…

I subscribe to dentalblogs.com…often my inbox is full of exciting dentistry information (a lot of which goes over my head, I must admit!).

However, a recent article on green surgery design caught my attention…check it out here.



Secret Harbour Dental - not so secret!

As promised, some more pictures of our work!

Recently completed Secret Harbour Dental looks fabulous (even if we do say so ourselves;-) - check out the floor plan and a photo of the reception area here 



Practices made perfect - Middle East Dentists

 We were recently contacted by the editor of Middle East Dentist magazine for our opinion on the latest and greatest in surgery design. Of course, we were pleased to assist! The article has been published in the May 2008 issue.

Click here to check it out ME Dentist article !



Where are we at…?

Well, it’s been over a month since my last post. My aim for our blog is to impart relevant and interesting information to you in regards to the latest and greatest in the dental design world.

However, we’ve got so much going on at the moment that my head is full of work, work, work. So, forgive me if I just do a quick ‘brain-dump’ on all the things we are working on currently.

Brand new surgery (southern suburb of Perth) - we completed the space planning, colour consultancy and reception and waiting area design a while back. The construction (by Dentpro) is nearly finished (YAY!) and we look forward to getting some photos on the site very soon!

Nuclear Physician (southern suburb of Perth) - this floor plan was designed at another company and we did some alterations to the space planning to suit the client’s requirements. We are currently looking at the colour consultancy and reception and waiting area design. This project is currently going through some serious structural engineering work (some of the equipment weighs tonnes!) and won’t be finished for a little while yet (ahhh the construction industry - can’t be more accurate than that, I’m afraid!)

Refurbishment (northern suburb of Perth) - we recently completed the reception design for this project (actually, there are some minor colour alterations still to do…where is my ‘to do’ list!)

Refurbishment (northern suburb of Perth) - again this is another reception area of an existing surgery we designed. The client was not totally happy with the designer they commission, so we were engaged to make some alterations to the existing (recently constructed design) and come up with a new reception desk.

Brand new surgery (Perth city) - as you may or may not know, there is HEAPS of construction happenening in and around Perth at the moment. This project is in a new building (which is still being constructed) and the client got the architect of the building to come up with a space plan for his new surgery. Unfortunately, the architect didn’t have any experience in surgery design, so the client came to us for help. We were able to incorporate two extra operatories and a disabled WC (council requirement) and create a much more usable layout for our client. We are currently working on the reception design and colour consultancy.

Brand new dental lab (Perth city) - this is a very small tenancy in the same building as above - we did some minor planning for council approval and will be looking at the colour consultancy for this project.

Existing surgery (central suburb of Perth) - the partners in this surgery approached us to do a feasibility study for their existing premises. They currently sub lease part of the building and the tenants will be moving in the coming months. They were unsure if they should do minor renovations and extend into the sub leased area or do more major renovations or even add a second storey. I am currently researching all the options in regard to council requirements, cost estimates, building issues and down time required for each option of construction. I’m quite enjoying this type of reporting and look forward to letting you know which way the partners decide to go!

So, thank you for indulging me in getting all this down on paper, so to speak! I hope to have some photos of the current projects up on the site soon.



Empty your bucket!

BucketOne of the most important parts of a project is the design brief. You may not know exactly what you want or what to ask for - our job is to ask you the right questions (and read between the lines of your answers!).

We need to make sure that we ‘empty your bucket’ of needs and desires. If you have the feeling that your bucket still has something in it - that you haven’t been HEARD, then your designer hasn’t been successful in taking your brief.

As designers, we need to take ALL of your information (good or bad, vague or decisive) and tranform it in to something that fulfills as many of your needs and disires as possible.

Occassionally, some designers will push onto you their own desires for the space. It’s important to work through the design until you are happy with the end result.

We hope that we have past being too precious about a design. To us the definition of a successful project isn’t that the space would win the latest design award, but that we have a happy, fulfilled client.



Perth Waterfront Redevelopment

Perth Waterfront Redevelopment 

For all you looking for new surgery office space, Perth is the place to be (in the next 5, 10, 20 years!).

Recently the state government announced the new Waterfront Development.

I went to the WA Property Council launch this morning and was amazed by the number of buildings and the amount space that will be available.

We were told the this is a concept only and that the actual design of the buildings were not finalised.  

Check out some of the images here

I have my own opinions of the development (particularly the ’swan’ shaped island reminiscent of Dubai’s ‘palm’ and ‘world’ islands- come on Perth, can’t we come up with something new…??!!) and am keen to hear your comments on the concept.



The lap of luxury…

 The Library

While recently flipping through a design magazine I was pleased to note that my favourite design was from Perth. ‘The Library’ nightclub recently opened after it’s extensive renovation and transformation.

The designer, Marcos Cain, magnificently executes what has been described as a ‘bordello/baroque/guidfordian’ blend. Now I’m not sure what that exactly means, but all I can say is that the space looks fabulous!

For more pics check out The Library here

Now what does this have to do with surgery design?

Well, all I can say is that if any progressive, ‘guildfordian’, slightly eccentric dentist out there would like to go in this direction for the design of their surgery, I would melodramatically sell my soul (Faustian style) to be involved in such a project!

I can’t see it happening, but you never know what sort of look your next client will ask for!