18084_DESIGN OPTION_BUILDING 5_2018-12-06

Our High Efficiency Design team for the project has met for the first time today. Paul and Nina with Design Ergonomics.

We’ll have a Blocking Diagram ready for christmas. What’s a blocking diagram you ask? A blocking diagram allows very quick floor plan iteration revisions for a given space in the shortest amount of time. This method is like the storyboard that movie producers put up when designing a movie, helping to layout where everything goes in a manner that will be most effective. Each block within a blocking diagram represents the function for that block. For example: there will be a block called Treament room. each Treatment Room block will be a certain dimension that will take up a specified amount of floor space. Another block could be for a washroom, the administrative desk, the machine room, etc. There so many factors that will have an impact on efficiency including the following:

  • location of each block relative to the floor plan
  • location of each block relative to each other
  • building codes
  • sight lines
  • sound attenuation
  • captial asset cost (high technology assets)

We’re breaking new ground literally and figuratively. With Public Health Ontario’s very stringent regulations for example, the Central Reprocessing Block or Central Sterilization block will necessarily need to be a certain size to accomodate the throughput of a busy practice and will need to be scaleable. consideration will need to be given to ventilation when multiple autoclaves are running simultaneously. The location for this block will necesarily be centrally located while still avoiding sightlines from the Patient Lounge block. Designing an effective Blocking Diagram is like plahing  Tetris on Steroids!

At this time, Paul and his team are busy putting together the initial draft for the Georgian Dental® Orillia location and hopes to deliver an initial draft before Christmas 2018. I’ll be sending that Blocking Diagram Draft to our Lease Negotiations team. The lease negotiations team will in turn be sharing the Blocking Diagram with the Landlord. The Landlord in turn will work with their architects to tweak the floor plan. This is important – this will have an impact on where the main entrance and emergency exits will end up being placed. So many moving parts! So this project promises to be a very exciting roller coaster ride and I’m very honored to be working with the very best!

Dr. Tan