Wayside Dental

Merit Award // Excellence in Architecture Design - Commercial / Institutional

Architect // Archiphernalia

General Contractor: Chinburgh Builders

Civil Engineer // TFMoran

Structural Engineer // Thornton Tomasetti

Landscape Architect // TFMoran

Description

For over forty years, the DiBona Dental Group occupied the same office space in Exeter, NH. While they gradually expanded throughout the course of their history, they had outgrown their cramped space. After acquiring land nearby, the practice approached Archiphernalia with some clear goals: design a new office that welcomes the public, is fully accessible to a diverse patient population, and reflects the quality of the cutting-edge dental work performed within. While the site offered great visibility to the community, zoning regulations limited the building to a small footprint, and a strict budget limited the scope. To maximize efficiency and limit costs, we started with a simple form and articulated welcoming public spaces with tactile material changes and color variations. We focused on a few clear design moves that would draw in the community and provide a space for the practice to expand for decades to come.

Jury Comments

This project received a merit award for its exemplary application of a modern dental office program, effectively interpreted through the lens of a New England barn. The use of a recessed storefront entry at the street facing gable adds a welcoming flair to the office, making the accessible entrance visible and bright. This slight adaptation of the form creates a welcoming place to begin, with the green ribbons of public space creating a lively and coherent method of orienting within the space. The jury commends the use of the natural cedar rainscreen siding, the view to the outdoors from the patient’s seating, individual ventilation control, durable, natural, and low VOC materials. The thoughtful use of wood within the lobby and along the corridor is true to the spirit of this welcome community amenity.

Photo credit: Archiphernalia