Do You Really Need a Dental Practice Design Firm to Design Your Dental Practice?

Construction Gets Sticky When Design Company Closes Its Doors

Regular readers already know the tale of Machias Dental and have been following the progress of the building in my weekly updates:

• Machias Dental is building a new dental facility in coastal Maine.
• The project demanded careful financial analysis.
• Construction began with laying the foundation.
• Next, the walls were put in place.
• The skeleton went up.
• The roof was raised.

Designing a new dental facility is no small architectural task. The Sparagas contracted with T.H.e. Design, one of the largest dental practice design firms in the US. They worked closely with the Sparagas to develop complete plans for the new building.

Plans for the new Machias Dental [click to enlarge]

And then the trouble started! Dr. Sparaga received noticed that T.H.e. Design was closing its doors. (Ouch!)

Luckily, the final plans had been completed months before. Project records were in the hands of various former employees of the deign company. Fortunately, all were willing to continue working with the Sparagas on an individual basis.

But the doctor knew he’d need more help than that, so he pursued local design firms to help finish the inside of the building. It fell to Kathy Sparaga, a local architect, and the couple’s general contractor to work through the myriad of problems inherent in a project of this scope. Fortunately, they have managed to keep the project on schedule.

Step 8: Work continues… [click to enlarge]

Though it’s the dead of winter in northern New England, hammers continue to fly on the new dental facility. The exterior of the building is close to complete, and the interior rooms are taking shape. By this spring, Dr. Sparaga hopes to have an associate, a completed building, and an ever-expanding patient list.

Stay tuned next week to take a look inside the brand-new building!