Kennett Road Dental Surgery occupied the ground floor of a terraced house in Headington, Oxford but the practice needed to expand to keep pace with the demands of NHS dentistry provision. The flat above the surgery was owned by the practice. Replanning the whole of the existing two-storey building and adding a contemporary single-storey extension to the rear created space for four surgeries, doubling the number and ensuring the practice fully met best practice guidelines set out by the Department of Health.

The refurbishment and alterations included appropriately sized patient waiting areas, patient toilet, staff rest areas, decontamination rooms and an X-ray room. No part of the building was left untouched, it was modernised throughout and with new insulated render on the outside of the building together with new aluminium double glazed doors and windows, the thermal performance and environmental credentials of the building were hugely improved.

The building looks less like a house and more like a dental practice, both inside and out and has become far more attractive and appealing to patients and staff alike.

The practice needed to maintain business as usual throughout the 8-month construction process – no mean feat given the challenge of keeping the dental areas free of dust and contamination. Great care was taken to work around the needs of the practice and phase the work. The work was carried out in two phases, the first was the construction of the rear extension providing two new surgeries and decontamination rooms. Once operational, work began on the second phase to remodel the existing two-storey building.

The practice remained operative throughout, testament to the excellent communication and collaboration between the client, design team and contractor.