Act Fast Urgent Care
Contemporary tenant improvement in Ashburn, VA to provide a small medical office + urgent care center with 4 exam rooms, lab, x-ray, 2 offices + staff break area filled with color + art.
Location
Ashburn, VA
Project Type
Commercial - Medical Office + Urgent Care
Project Scope
Tenant Buildout
Year Complete
2015
Scale
2,332 gsf
Budget
$ 75 per sf (Construction)
AHJ Reviews
Fairfax Co - MEP + FP
Project Team
NORR (architect)
Freedom Construction (build)
Bera Engineers (mep + fp)
Building Out a Needed Service for the Community
While an associate with the large international firm NORR, Keith from Freedom Contracting introduced us to Dr Khan, who was looking to establish a new practice in Fairfax County. He selected a space within the Broadlands Village Center as a potential site since, even though it is in the spread out suburbs, it acts as a town center for the Ashburn community. During an assessment of the property, we determined that within a 10-mile radius of the shopping center, there are approximately 15 urgent care centers, which the client determined was an acceptable amount based on the area’s growing population.
We kicked off the process with a 1/2 day charrette at the existing space and had many hands on activities planned: review of preliminary program goals; visual preference survey; blocking + stacking exercise; and then review of three test-fit options that were developed from the blocking exercise. At the end of the day, we had finalized the program goals for the project, prepared and reviewed pros + cons of three floor plan options, selected the desired scheme for the floor plan, and had identified the client’s goals for the finishes. Allowing the client to be a part of the design process not only helped us better understand his perspective, but it allowed us to streamline the design process. We submitted the permit drawings within a few short weeks after the charrette.
During the charrette, Dr Khan indicated that his goal for his office space was to have non-institution colors and to perform the build out as sustainable as possible - even though certification was not desired. As a result, we decided to minimize the amount of demolition waste by retaining existing metal stud framed walls + the entire ceiling (grid, tiles, and light fixtures), selected eco-friendly sheet vinyl flooring + carpet throughout the space, and installed low-VOC paints and hypo-allergic finishes throughout.
The contractor, Keith Black, also took part in the charrette, which provided added value since he was able to provide the contractors perspective + constructibility feedback when we reviewed the developed schemes. This allowed the contractor to establish a construction budget target based on the selections made at the meeting and understand the team’s goals for the project. So when it came to resolve budget overruns, they knew which items were important to the client. This allowed us to quickly modify components that did not dilute the overall vision + goals.
“Dan has worked very proactively with us and our team to establish project requirements and to resolve
design issues, are very responsive to our needs, and produce work of the highest professional quality. They have provided exceptional design work which is also technically excellent. We highly recommend Mr. Blair...”
