46 February 2013 PPD

Practice owner Sarah Batho wasn’t going to let a little thing like a case of severe winter weather hinder the renovation

of her stunning practice, Pure Dental in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. ‘It was no sooner that we had bought the property at the end of November 2010, when we faced the first challenge of the project - and a major one at that!’ she told PPD. ‘A severe snow blizzard hit, so we had to call a halt to two huge renovations - the construction of a new roof and major structural work to remove the chimneybreast, until the worst of the snow had passed.’

Luckily, there were no further unpreventable complications, except one particular issue, which seemed minor in comparison to our previous problems: ‘As the practice is located in a small, but bustling, market town, the council wouldn’t allow for us to put a skip outside the building during the two weeks up to Christmas, so as not to affect shoppers walking past the building,’

Sarah explained.Snow and logistical issues aside, however,

after three months of hard graft, Pure Dental was complete, albeit a little delayed. But it was certainly worth the teething problems, for the stunning results.

THE PREMISESSarah Batho chose an early Victorian terraced building as the home for Pure Dental. Formerly a dental practice, it hadn’t been updated in a long time, so had to be renovated from scratch. It took her almost a year to find the right premises before contracts were signed in November 2010.

Dental design and build company, Promec, along with design, branding and marketing company, Newenglish Design, were hired to create Sarah’s vision for a boutique-style practice. ‘I liked the idea of a practice with a distinctly relaxing feel and I especially wanted to reflect this in the waiting room,’ she said. ‘I also wanted to make sure that the

overall design, while remaining modern and fresh, didn’t clash too much with the period character of the property.’

Promec was then given the brief and its construction team began the conversion in January 2011. ‘We were tasked with stripping the building back to its raw state, and develop the space by moving walls etc to produce a practice with three surgeries and two decontamination rooms,’ said Jacqui Tibbetts, managing director at Promec.

‘Although it had been a dental surgery in its former life, the building hadn’t been updated for a good few years. This meant that the flow of the practice wasn’t right, and no allowances had been made for DDA compliance or decontamination rooms,’ Jacqui added.

During a regular on-site meeting, Sarah met with Jacqui and construction manager, David Giles, to see the progress. ‘At this stage in the refurbishment as you walked through the front door you could see all the way up through the floors to the rafters of the roof,

When dentist Sarah Batho embarked upon a complete building renovation for her new practice in Shropshire, it provided a blank canvas for the stunning boutique-style Pure Dental

STylE counSElgoing boutique

the reception has clean lines and bold, yet simple, furniture, which sets the tone for the rest of the practice

46-48, 50 PPDFEB-BUSINESS-STYLECOUNSEL.indd 99 18/01/2013 12:37

PPDBuSInESSDESIGn

PPD February 2013 47

‘As you can see from the before shot, the property had to be completely stripped out,’ said Jacqui tibbetts from dental design and build company, Promec. ‘We removed walls in the waiting room, chimneybreasts and upstairs. We also re-wired, re-plumbed, plastered and redecorated every single room, fi tted fl ooring throughout and kitted out two surgeries and two decontamination rooms,’ she added

46-48, 50 PPDFEB-BUSINESS-STYLECOUNSEL.indd 100 18/01/2013 12:37

48 February 2013 PPD

PPDBuSInESSDESIGn

that’s how far the building needed stripping back.’

REcEPTIonTh e reception is one of my favourite bits of the fi nished practice,’ Sarah said. She decided on the colour scheme and design of this space with the help of Wendy Draper from local company, Newenglish Design. ‘We met with Wendy several times to work out the kinds of colour schemes and designs that we liked. Together, we chose three of our favourite styles, before whittling it down to the one we liked the most.’

‘We’ve chosen bright accent colours with grey/cream contrast tones throughout the practice,’ she added. ‘We kept the space fairly minimal, which meant we could get away with using bright red chairs, while the big guilt-style mirror on the coloured wall really helps to open up the room.’

Th e reception desk also uses clean lines

and was designed by Wendy, and fabricated by Promec. ‘As well as cabinetry, we also fabricate Corian on-site at our new factory in Bridgnorth. Th is allows us the freedom to design and manufacture bespoke surfaces for challenging spaces,’ Jacqui explained. ‘Th e reception desk was made in-house out of Corian to off er the clean lines and be in keeping with the design profi le,’ she added.

DESIGn ToucHES‘Th e main surgery with its view to the garden, is one of my favourite rooms in the fi nished practice,’ said Sarah. ‘We saw the A-dec chair at a dental show, and we instantly loved the colour and couldn’t resist. Naturally, the colour scheme of the surgery evolved from this.’

Th e room is also big enough to incorporate space for a separate seating area by the window, where patients can relax and discuss their treatment with Sarah, which puts them at ease.

Th e disabled toilet certainly has a wow

Wendy Draper at newenglish Design devised the subtle yet professional logos for Pure Dental which are used on the practice literature, including leafl ets and business cards, as well as on the wall behind the bespoke reception desk

the A-dec dental chair prompted the use of green as an accent colour. Combined with the view out to the pretty garden, as well as the bold fl ora-themed artwork decorating the wall in this room, the colour scheme has transformed it into a calming space

46-48, 50 PPDFEB-BUSINESS-STYLECOUNSEL.indd 101 18/01/2013 12:37

factor,’ said Jacqui. ‘Although it’s easy to think of it as just a toilet, Wendy from Newenglish Design has still paid the same amount of attention to detail within its design, as in the other rooms in the practice,’ she added. Like the rest of the practice, the disabled toilet features sleek complementary accent colours and nice touches, like the crisp white mirror. ‘The colour schemes that Wendy proposed for the entire practice were so enthralling, including in the disabled toilet complete with its own chandelier!’ Jacqui added.

NO COMPROMISESo what about the money spent? The project came in slightly over budget, although Sarah was careful not to overspend, making sure to trim costs where possible along the way. ‘We ordered our furniture direct from the manufacturer to save a bit of cash (Promec manufactured all the dental cabinets for the surgeries and decontamination rooms in-house at its new factory in Bridgnorth). We just made sure to plan carefully, which meant we kept refit costs reasonably accurate. But at the same time we didn’t really have to compromise on anything,’ she said.

Is Sarah happy with her new practice? ‘Yes, I’m very pleased. It’s just how I pictured it in my head at the start, so I’m really happy.’

Patients have also given positive feedback. ‘Hearing positive comments from patients is great. It was also important to have a great team supporting me. This made it much less stressful,’ Sarah said.

Jacqui added, ‘Everyone involved in the project worked together well. The practice reflects Sarah’s eye for precision and the

injection of bold and cheerful accent colours represent her warm, welcoming staff. It’s a practice that Promec is proud to have delivered and enjoyed the process throughout.’

CONtaCtS

Promec Dental01746 765700www.promecdental.comNewenglish Design0116 2915375www.newenglish.co.ukA-dec0800 233285 www.a-dec.co.uk

50 February 2013 PPD

ppd

To ask a question or comment on this article please send an email to: PPD@fmc.co.uk

PPDbuSINESSDESIgN

Pure Dental in Bridgnorth, Shropshire is owned by dental surgeon, Sarah Batho and opened for business in January 2011 after three months of renovation work

The disabled toilet continues the design themes used elsewhere in the practiceSurgery 2 uses more subdued accent colours than Surgery 1, which gives it a more clinical feel. It also uses bespoke Corian worktops and cabinetry

46-48, 50 PPDFEB-BUSINESS-STYLECOUNSEL.indd 102 18/01/2013 12:38