From Ask The Expert:
Q. I am a fairly new licensee ( 2 years ) from Boca Raton Florida. I am anxious to open up an exciting new practice. Only, I feel its so far away and overwhelming. I received some cards in the mail and ran into your info. I went to your website and see you offer design services. How would it work with you being located in Oregon?
Q. We work with OD’s like you all over the country. All we need is an accurate plan of your space to work from (often the landlord or building architect provides this for you). Photos of the space are helpful, too.
I really enjoy getting new OD’s off to a flying start with a creative design that will fit within the typical tight budget of a first practice. Opening your first practice can certainly seem like an overwhelming task. That’s why it’s important for you to select your designer carefully. A well-designed dispensary should practically sell the frames for you and you need someone who is experienced in optical design to do that.
You will find my Office Design Guide book very helpful. It gives you a great overview of all the factors you need to consider for your new office, plus 100 floor plans. You can order it here: http://www.barbarawrightdesign.com/book.html
August 2, 2006
July 17, 2006
How Much Will My New Office Cost?
Q. How much will my new office cost?
REMODELING PROJECTS are the most difficult to "guess-timate" before you have actual plans in hand because the amount of work can vary so much. If you are remodeling a small dispensary you probably need to budget at least $20,000. to do enough to make a real difference. Medium to large dispensaries can cost $30,000. to $50,000. or more.
BUILDING OUT AN INTERIOR SPACE varies according to labor costs in your area. Generally it's more expensive to build on the East Coast or West Coast and less expensive in the Midwest and South. Figure on spending $75. to $100. per square foot on the average for a nice office with good quality materials, custom cabinets and state of the art dispensary lighting.
BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP starts at about $125. per square foot (not including the land) for a simple building in a medium or small size town with lower construction costs. You could easily spend $150. to $250. per square foot and more for a building in or around a busy metropolitan area.
You can ask contractors in your area what a typical commercial building costs in your area, but the numbers he quotes you will not include the specialized display fixtures and lighting you'll need in the optical area. Be sure to add on $25,000. to $50,000. more for your optical.
REMODELING PROJECTS are the most difficult to "guess-timate" before you have actual plans in hand because the amount of work can vary so much. If you are remodeling a small dispensary you probably need to budget at least $20,000. to do enough to make a real difference. Medium to large dispensaries can cost $30,000. to $50,000. or more.
BUILDING OUT AN INTERIOR SPACE varies according to labor costs in your area. Generally it's more expensive to build on the East Coast or West Coast and less expensive in the Midwest and South. Figure on spending $75. to $100. per square foot on the average for a nice office with good quality materials, custom cabinets and state of the art dispensary lighting.
BUILDING FROM THE GROUND UP starts at about $125. per square foot (not including the land) for a simple building in a medium or small size town with lower construction costs. You could easily spend $150. to $250. per square foot and more for a building in or around a busy metropolitan area.
You can ask contractors in your area what a typical commercial building costs in your area, but the numbers he quotes you will not include the specialized display fixtures and lighting you'll need in the optical area. Be sure to add on $25,000. to $50,000. more for your optical.
May 10, 2006
How To Pick Exterior Color for a Building
From Ask The Expert:
Q. I own a small (2,800 square foot) professional building. We remodeled the interior last year and I want to repaint the outside, which is stucco. How do I pick a color for the outside? I want something that's a little bit different than the typical beige, but I don't want it to turn out looking too bright or too dark. Can you help?
A. Selecting an exterior color is a two step process. First you need to select three or four colors that appeal to you. You may want to get some professional advice at the paint store to help you your select your possible colors. Buy a small can of each color.
Next pick a wall that can be seen from a distance and paint a good size swatch of each color (3' x 6' or 4' x 8') on the wall with some space between the colors. Let it dry and look at the colors several times over the next few days. Check how they look at different times of the day: morning, noon, dusk. Look at them on a bright, sunny day and on a cloudy day.
You'll be amazed at how different a color can look from one day to another or from one time of day to another. Make sure you look at the colors from a distance, the way people driving by will. After a few days of observation you will be able to decide which one looks the best to you.
Q. I own a small (2,800 square foot) professional building. We remodeled the interior last year and I want to repaint the outside, which is stucco. How do I pick a color for the outside? I want something that's a little bit different than the typical beige, but I don't want it to turn out looking too bright or too dark. Can you help?
A. Selecting an exterior color is a two step process. First you need to select three or four colors that appeal to you. You may want to get some professional advice at the paint store to help you your select your possible colors. Buy a small can of each color.
Next pick a wall that can be seen from a distance and paint a good size swatch of each color (3' x 6' or 4' x 8') on the wall with some space between the colors. Let it dry and look at the colors several times over the next few days. Check how they look at different times of the day: morning, noon, dusk. Look at them on a bright, sunny day and on a cloudy day.
You'll be amazed at how different a color can look from one day to another or from one time of day to another. Make sure you look at the colors from a distance, the way people driving by will. After a few days of observation you will be able to decide which one looks the best to you.
May 6, 2006
Orphan Dispensaries and the 11th Hour Save
It happened again this week. An O.D. who shall remain nameless called me in a panic. He's in the middle of construction on his new building and he was not happy with the dispensary design that the building architect did for him. He thought he could do it himself and started by ordering a few showcases. Now he doesn't know how to do the rest and how to put it all together so it won't look like an afterthought.
It sounds unbelievable that someone would put all that time and effort (and money!) into his building project and then leave the dispensary design til the end. They wait until they are stressed out and in a bind to get help from an optical design specialist when they should have done that in the first place.
This type of project I call the "11th hour save" because that's what I have to do for the client. Step in at the last minute and save the day like some cartoon superhero. These can be the most difficult design projects to do. We have to work with what's already been done in a piecemeal fashion, design whatever is missing, and pull it together so it all works and looks wonderful to boot! And we have to do it all in half the time it normally would take.
Maybe I have not done enough to educate people on how to work with their design and building team to avoid these kind of problems. The design of the dispensary is such a critical part of any new office. When it's done right it helps to create maximum profits for the practice. It's too important a profit center to treat like an orphan.
I am not out to trash architects here. Just like any other profession, there are good ones and bad ones. If you want a really special looking building, you need a talented architect to design the building shell for you. But if they are not intimately acquainted with the complexities of optical retailing and optometric practices, letting them do the interior design and especially the dispensary sometimes leads to disaster.
Don't let this happen to you. If you are in a position to build from the ground up, do your homework. Assemble a team of experts and let them do their best for you. Don't wind up with an "orphan dispensary" and a frantic search for a superhero designer to save you at the 11th hour.
It sounds unbelievable that someone would put all that time and effort (and money!) into his building project and then leave the dispensary design til the end. They wait until they are stressed out and in a bind to get help from an optical design specialist when they should have done that in the first place.
This type of project I call the "11th hour save" because that's what I have to do for the client. Step in at the last minute and save the day like some cartoon superhero. These can be the most difficult design projects to do. We have to work with what's already been done in a piecemeal fashion, design whatever is missing, and pull it together so it all works and looks wonderful to boot! And we have to do it all in half the time it normally would take.
Maybe I have not done enough to educate people on how to work with their design and building team to avoid these kind of problems. The design of the dispensary is such a critical part of any new office. When it's done right it helps to create maximum profits for the practice. It's too important a profit center to treat like an orphan.
I am not out to trash architects here. Just like any other profession, there are good ones and bad ones. If you want a really special looking building, you need a talented architect to design the building shell for you. But if they are not intimately acquainted with the complexities of optical retailing and optometric practices, letting them do the interior design and especially the dispensary sometimes leads to disaster.
Don't let this happen to you. If you are in a position to build from the ground up, do your homework. Assemble a team of experts and let them do their best for you. Don't wind up with an "orphan dispensary" and a frantic search for a superhero designer to save you at the 11th hour.
April 14, 2006
New Office Photo - Couple of Eyes
Just received this photo of a new office that I designed right here in my home town, Portland, OR. The practice is called "Couple of Eyes," owned by husband and wife optometrists. When they first came to me they were thinking of leasing 2,000 square feet for their very first practice, opening cold. I advised them to scale down to 1,500 square feet or less to keep their initial construction costs and overhead down.
They wanted a very contemporary interior with a minimalist style and colors that would reflect their Asian heritage. I had to do a bit of searching to find just the perfect shade of brick red for the back wall. The reception counter is faced with metal laminate. Natural slate flooring in the entry provides rich texture and color.
Although the look is very "hip" we did not want patients to think all the frames are higher priced. Simple locking frame bars signal that the optical has moderate priced frames as well as high fashion frames. The contractor, Norwest General Contractors, did a great job and actually finished on time. That doesn't happen every day!
April 12, 2006
Display fixtures: Catalog or Custom?
Q. Should I buy display fixtures from a catalog or have my local contractor make them custom?
A. There is an upside and a downside to both approaches. You must weigh the choices and decide what is best for your particular situation.
CATALOG FIXTURES - Most fixture manufacturers will do a free dispensary layout for you and give you an exact price for the whole package. Fixtures can go with you if you move to a different location and it's easy to add more pieces in the future by just placing an order from the catalog. However, display fixtures are fairly expensive and some people want their office to have a different look than what can be achieved with pre-made fixtures.
CUSTOM FIXTURES - Your local cabinetmaker can build your dispensary fixtures if he has a well-detailed set of plans from a designer or architect experienced in optical design. The cost of your dispensary can vary greatly depending on how much custom cabinetry is required and you won't know the actual cost until the plans are done and you get the bids.
The quality of the work can vary also. It's up to you to choose the contractor wisely and refuse to accept any sub-par work. With custom fixtures your office will be one-of-kind and could cost less than if you bought all fixtures.
Many offices have a combination of the two. Free-standing showcases with built-in lighting and locking doors are complex pieces best left to a specialty manufacturer who builds them all day long. Your local cabinetmaker may not be able to give you the high quality you need in a showcase. However, much of the other cabinetry in the dispensary can be handled by a good local cabinetmaker without a problem.
A. There is an upside and a downside to both approaches. You must weigh the choices and decide what is best for your particular situation.
CATALOG FIXTURES - Most fixture manufacturers will do a free dispensary layout for you and give you an exact price for the whole package. Fixtures can go with you if you move to a different location and it's easy to add more pieces in the future by just placing an order from the catalog. However, display fixtures are fairly expensive and some people want their office to have a different look than what can be achieved with pre-made fixtures.
CUSTOM FIXTURES - Your local cabinetmaker can build your dispensary fixtures if he has a well-detailed set of plans from a designer or architect experienced in optical design. The cost of your dispensary can vary greatly depending on how much custom cabinetry is required and you won't know the actual cost until the plans are done and you get the bids.
The quality of the work can vary also. It's up to you to choose the contractor wisely and refuse to accept any sub-par work. With custom fixtures your office will be one-of-kind and could cost less than if you bought all fixtures.
Many offices have a combination of the two. Free-standing showcases with built-in lighting and locking doors are complex pieces best left to a specialty manufacturer who builds them all day long. Your local cabinetmaker may not be able to give you the high quality you need in a showcase. However, much of the other cabinetry in the dispensary can be handled by a good local cabinetmaker without a problem.
April 10, 2006
How Long Will Construction Take?
How long will it take to build my new office?
Interior build-outs should take about 6 - 8 weeks, but always add another two weeks or more on to whatever date your contractor promises. Contractors rarely finish on time, even the good ones!
For the average small to medium size professional building a good contractor can do it in 6 months or so, but don't be surprised if it takes longer.
Interior build-outs should take about 6 - 8 weeks, but always add another two weeks or more on to whatever date your contractor promises. Contractors rarely finish on time, even the good ones!
For the average small to medium size professional building a good contractor can do it in 6 months or so, but don't be surprised if it takes longer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
