What Does the Medical Office Design Process Include?

One’s medical office design should be aimed at patient comfort and experience. Modern interior design, including stylish décor, furniture, and facilities can significantly affect the experience of the patients. The overall design of a medical facility can help save lives or negatively affect the patients’ health. But how should you design your medical facilities to achieve the former?

Luckily for you, we’re going to help you achieve your desired results – to help save lives through medical office design. What are the steps involved in getting the right design?

The medical office design process

There are four phases involved in the medical office design process: conceptual design, design development, construction drawings, and purchasing. Read more to find out.

Phase One: Conceptual Design

In this phase, you’ll spend a lot of time gathering information that you need to present a design that best fits you and your medical space. This is where you allow your design consultant to listen to you and understand your needs and requirements. As a result, the design team will represent your brand and offer a seamless experience from start to finish.

The design team should be able to provide you with custom space planning, brand-matched mood boards, and most importantly, concept sketches. In short, the design team should be able to provide you with the following services:

• A welcome meeting where the team gathers information of client needs and requirements
• A custom virtual project workspace where you, as a client, will receive project files and updates
• Retrieving measurements and space evaluation
• Brand-matched mood board or preliminary design idea and materials
• Custom space planning or preliminary floor plan
• Three focal points of concept sketches

Phase Two: Design Development

Phase two includes developing the initial interior architectural plans. In the design development phase for medical office design, the design team will layout the initial interior architectural plans and getting your final approval before the team begins the construction. The team also begins to source all the necessary materials, equipment, and fixture. They will select the material finishes, such as the furniture plans, floor plans, and more, and review how much the design budget is based on the materials.

In short, in the design development, the team should be able to provide you with the following:

• Selecting the material finish: material finish selection, sample presentation, and estimates (budget)
• Interior architectural drawings set development: demolition plan, demolition plan and construction plan, furniture plan, hardware and equipment plan, floor pattern layout, reflected ceiling plan or lighting, finish plan, plumbing plan, section elevations and drawings, and built-in details drawings as needed
• Cost evaluation meeting: you, the contractor, and the design team will review the budget before commencing the construction. The team will provide high-end to entry-level budget options
• Sourcing of initial design packages: material finish package, plumbing package, lighting package, and equipment and hardware package

Phase Three: Construction Drawings

The construction drawings phase is where the design team will bring your healing space to life. This ensures that the project will run smoothly by providing design management. The team will provide you with the detailed design management timeline and the schedule of design implementation dates. The team will also keep you fully up-to-date on where you are at with the process.

You’ll also receive 3-D model presentations so you can view the design direction before any purchase is made, which allows you to save money and time. This phase includes the following services:

• Full construction drawing set development: Furniture schedule, hardware and equipment schedule, lighting schedule, finish schedule, plumbing schedule, door and window plan and schedule, logo signage detail drawing, and accessories elevations
• Three 3-D model presentations: photo-realistic images that will allow the design team to make any changes before making a purchase and before the construction, so you can save money and time
• Walkthrough video presentation
• Bid assistance: This allows you to access the team’s shared network of partner professionals who add value to the overall project
• Sourcing of full design packages: Furniture and accessories package
• Weekly meetings and scheduled conference calls – they help ensure the quality of design implementation
• Review interior architectural construction drawings and submissions for design intent, as required by the contractor, architect, or other field experts

Phase Four: Purchasing

The purchasing phase is exclusive only when you select the Premium Package. This service has been developed so that the team can streamline the medical office interior design process, finishing the project with clarity and ease.

The team will coordinate with contractors and vendors, order placement and tracking, and provide hassle-free white glove delivery. The team will also assemble the furniture and provide onsite styling and installation. In short, here are the services available during phase four:

• Coordinating with contractors and vendors
• Order placement and tracking
• White glove delivery and assembly of all the furniture
• Onsite styling and installation

Medical office design FAQs

Where to start?

The first step when designing your medical spa space is to understand the reason why you’re doing it. When you finally have the reason, the entire space will be completely patient-experience driven. The details of what and how will just fall into place.

How much does it cost?

The costs vary depending on the interior design services and are customized based on each client’s needs. The pricing also takes into consideration the square footage of your space, the timeline for when you want the project to be completed, and the location.

Who to hire first?

A lot of people think that the person they need to hire first when designing a new medical space is the contractor or architect. However, this shouldn’t be the case. You should always hire an interior design specialist first to ensure that your entire project and design will be centered around the patient experience instead of focusing on a technical standpoint.

What are the most important rooms of a med spa?

The three most important parts of your medical space are the lounge area, consultation room, and the restrooms. These focal points exude a timeless design, cleanliness, and incorporate the healing elements of your services.

When you design your medical spa, there are a few features that you need to address within these rooms: lighting, anthropometrics, scent, and wayfinding. All of these can elevate the patient experience to the next level.

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