Renovating rented space calls for vision, precision
Surgical practice’s third location taps expertise to achieve design intent
Braselton, Georgia
Dr. Sandeep Pathak and his partners in an oral surgical practice wanted to open a third office in Braselton to go along with offices in Lawrenceville and Buford. Their first call? Samir Doshi.
“We wanted to renovate some rented space to fit our needs,” says Dr. Pathak, known to his patients as Dr. P. “You could only do so much with the existing layout, so we asked Samir to help envision how we could use the space.”
It’s the type of challenge Samir embraces. What are the possibilities for a reception area? What’s required for treatment and consultation rooms?
Accommodating medical gases used in the practice presented a particular challenge in design and construction, one that included special plumbing, permitting and secure storage cabinets. Samir’s creative approach to design also introduced a raised ceiling in an exam room to create the appearance of larger, less claustrophobic space that was more pleasant for patients.
“Samir had a flair for the modern and employed many inventive design techniques,” Dr. Pathak says, describing Samir’s work as “a nice touch of elegance.”
Partners in the medical practice were impressed by how Samir operated before the construction phase, Dr. Pathak says. They experienced what Samir himself calls his “schedule-centric” approach in which he took the time to ask detailed questions about each stage of the project in order to fashion a workable schedule for construction. Of particular importance to the partners was an on-time opening of the facility.
The schedule-centric approach also meant coordinating the work of subcontractors.
One acid test of a contractor is repeat business. When Dr. Pathak wanted to renovate the basement of his home, he again turned to Samir, who he says “made the project feel and look like a custom house, more open and breathable. He put a modern feel in an otherwise traditional house.”
Dr. Pathak and his partners have no immediate plans for a fourth office, but if they do, they’ve kept handy Samir’s phone number. Once again he’s likely to be their first call.
"Samir was onsite every day and monitored the crews to make certain work scheduled for that day actually got done,” Dr. Pathak says. “He makes sure he hires professional people who share his values about quality work.”
The SamT Perspective
For a versatile contractor like SamT Construction, every job is different. The renovation of rented space to open a dental practice in Braselton was no exception.
We fashioned a plan that accommodated the existing space to the needs of the practice while integrating specialized equipment, including medical gases that required special permits and precise installation.
For us, serving multiple bosses is no problem. With this project, not only were there four partners to please, but the space they were renovating was leased. That meant a landlord had to be satisfied with the work being done. Here’s an example: The cylinders for nitrogen and oxygen had to be stored outside, a decision requiring approval by landlord as well as the partners.
Trust is often an issue in construction. Our clients have to be confident that the work will be done on time, on budget and up to the highest standards, and that’s especially true when the project involves a medical or dental practice. With this particular dental practice, our previous work on a hospital update helped us anticipate many of the problems we might encounter here.
A challenge throughout the project was the timetable. Even before the design work began, a date 16 weeks ahead was selected as the deadline for the completion of construction. We excel at managing a project to meet a deadline. We put our schedule-centric process to work and avoided many surprises along the way.
Samir Notes : “Orchestrating the needs of the dental surgery practice and the likes of each of the four partners was the most creative part of this project”