What Does a Good Veterinary Hospital Design Look Like?
What Does a Good Veterinary Hospital Design Look Like?
When building or renovating a commercial space, you need to consider your clients’ needs. The same principle applies to veterinary hospitals: only your clients are humans and animals.
This changes the game up a bit. The focus will be on a design that supports animal health and the comfort of pet owners. But you also can’t forget the importance of creating a supporting workspace for your animal care team.
How can you ensure you design a space to make your veterinary practice successful in client attraction and employee retention?
This guide will highlight some elements of good animal hospital design and some things you should consider before you begin your construction project.
Design Necessities for All
Any good veterinary clinic will need to tick off a few main qualifications if it is to keep up with today’s expectations.
These following design necessities don’t cater to just one group. They benefit all.
More importantly, ensuring a veterinary hospital meets these standards improves its efficiency, functionality, and profitability.
Floorplan Flow
First and foremost, the floorplan of a vet needs to be designed around traffic flow.
How will pets and pet owners move about the halls?
Where is the best location for the entrance and exit?
How can the floorplan help them get around the clinic quickly?
Flow of Staff
The traffic flow of the staff — such as veterinary technicians, nurses, receptionists, groomers, and kennel assistants — should also be a priority when designing a veterinary hospital.
A properly thought-out floorplan will improve the workflow of all staff members.
Better Utlization of Space
The best design will also reduce wasted space but still allow for room where needed. The hallway widths, for example, should be wide enough for every scenario a vet can encounter.
How much square footage is needed for each space?
That depends on the purpose of the space, the equipment it will hold, and the volume of humans and animals passing through.
Relevant to the Treatment Process
The floorplan should also be designed with the treatment process in mind.
This begins at check-in, so the entrance should open right up to the lobby and reception desk with a nearby waiting area.
For convenience, place the boarding and grooming area near the front for those who don’t need medical care so they can bypass this space altogether.
This is a good place for the dental suite as well. If the hospital has a storefront, it should also be accessible directly from the lobby for quick pet care purchases. If your property limits the sprawl of the veterinary structure, adding a second floor for these a la carte services should be considered, with a stairway near the entrance for easy access.
From the lobby, the next area should be the exam rooms, isolation rooms, and designated immunization rooms. The treatment area, which will contain X-ray imaging, sterilization areas, surgery rooms, and the ICU, should be separate.
Lastly, when the patient has completed their medical procedure or exam, they will proceed to the checkout stage and exit the building.
Areas for payment, the pharmacy, and last-minute purchases should be included in the design.
Lighting
Lighting does more than just help you see. It can affect your health and happiness. Since the purpose of this structure is to heal, it is vital to choose the best lighting to support this.
Energy Efficiency
Energy-efficient lighting also comes with the benefit of sustainability and cost savings. Choosing LED bulbs can help with this endeavor, as well as automatic light switches triggered by movement or the amount of natural light present.
Natural Sunlight
However, the most beneficial in terms of health and efficiency is natural light. It supports the circadian rhythm and mental health of both animals and humans.
To achieve this, include lots of windows on the east side of the building in your design. This will provide less harsh sunlight, a better atmosphere, and reduced heat transfer.
Skylights are another viable option to add more natural light to a veterinary hospital, but they can be costly and problematic to maintain.
Also, consider glass walls for exam rooms. This will allow natural light into the deeper rooms, but frosted glass is still an option if privacy is needed.
Uplighting
Uplighting is another way to improve the atmosphere of a veterinarian clinic. It creates the illusion of a bigger space.
Noise Control
Veterinary clinics can get very noisy. This can disrupt the staff’s ability to concentrate, spook or upset the animals, and annoy pet owners.
To minimize this, noise control should be set in place:
Silent phone systems remove one more noise from the equation.
Soundproof walls and sound-absorbing ceilings help to contain the noise that can’t be eliminated.
Quiet rolling casters, soft closed cabinet doors, and hydraulic door hinges all help to create a quieter environment.
Air Quality
Natural and mechanical ventilation options can help improve the hospital's air quality. An efficient air filtration system is also a necessity.
UV lighting can kill bacteria in the air, and an exhaust system in isolation rooms removes any airborne contagions these rooms could contain.
Good air quality helps boost staff productivity and reduce airborne pathogens. There should be a positive air pressure in surgery rooms and a negative pressure in the wards.
Design to Benefit the Animals
Managing a large number of animals in an unfamiliar setting is a challenge, but smart design can help.
Consider installing outdoor exam areas for overly skittish animals. Drive-up bays to transfer furry friends directly from the vehicle to the exam room can bypass the struggle of getting an unhappy animal through a crowded lobby.
Additionally, having designated spaces according to animal species reduces fear and irritation. Placing visual barriers between species is an easy way to cultivate a calm practice.
These separate areas tailor the design to each species' needs. For example, cats and dogs require a different setup from birds. It’s also a good idea to arrange cages so they don’t face each other.
Design to Benefit the Pet Owners
Happier owners mean happier pets. Animals easily pick up on their owner’s feelings. That’s why you can’t overlook the importance of designing with the pet owner in mind.
Inviting and Welcoming
Humans desire a space that provides an atmosphere beyond just functionality. Cheerful colors and artwork go a long way in creating a calming and homey environment.
Open spaces are also enjoyable. Consider real estate with more square feet to allow for less crowding.
Pet-safe greenery is another great addition to a veterinary hospital’s tranquility.
Comfortable
Pet owners always appreciate soft textiles and cozy seating. A positive design atmosphere with lots of natural lighting, biophilic design elements, and organic materials will transform an otherwise sterile hospital.
Trust
Transparent treatment rooms allow pet owners to see the care given to their pets. This helps them feel more at ease knowing their furry friend is not being mistreated.
A clean and organized vet clinic is also essential in gaining the trust of your clients.
Design to Benefit the Veterinary Staff
For your staff to take the best care of the animals, they, too, need to be well taken care of. A well-designed veterinary hospital can help protect your veterinary team from injury, burnout, and an unhappy professional life.
Personal Care
When putting in a long shift, your employees will appreciate a breakroom with individual privacy areas for phone calls or just some quiet time. The breakroom should also contain lockers, a dining area, and different gathering sections to suit the needs of your varied staff.
The employee bathrooms should be just as nice as those for the public.
Ergonomics are essential in designing the work area to care for your staff.
For example, cages should be at chest height or slightly below.
Of course, the whole clinic should be designed with safety as the top priority for all.
Professional Care
The design of your clinic can make doing the work that much more straightforward:
Touchless hand sanitizer and sinks help staff members keep handles clean.
Drains in the animal enclosures make it possible to simply clean the area with an easy spray-down.
Waterproof flooring makes tidying up after animal accidents a much simpler process.
L-shaped stations allow for more workspace without having to leave the animal.
The clinic should have plenty of storage space with easy access to tools.
Employees always know where everything is if there is the same setup in each room.
Expanding your diagnostic capabilities to digital radiography, MRIs, and ultrasounds can aid the staff in making even more precise diagnoses.
Design to Benefit the Bottom Line
Veterinary economics can be challenging. Exceptional service and care will be the key to a veterinary hospital’s success. However, a well-planned design can positively impact the profits of any service-based business.
Revenue Generating Spaces
To successfully increase the clinic's ability to make a profit, you need to prioritize the spaces that bring in the most money.
This may mean maximizing the number of exam rooms in your hospital. A dedicated telehealth space may also be a wise addition.
If boarding or doggy daycare is in high demand, maximize this by increasing the space allotted to this service.
Additionally, grooming and dentistry can be large revenue generators.
A well-stocked storefront with hard-to-find specialty pet foods, health and grooming products, or even your own product line can be another source of income for your veterinary hospital.
Energy Efficiency
Commercial spaces need to meet the energy code IECC and require COMcheck submittals on the building envelope, mechanical operations, and lighting systems.
Durability
Floors should be hard enough to take the beating of constant claws and scratches. Concrete flooring is a popular choice, being very durable. It can be painted or sealed for a more aesthetically pleasing effect.
All materials, from the walls to the counters, should be able to withstand harsh chemicals used to sanitize the clinic.
Learn more: Commercial Concrete Flooring From Types To Strength And Applications
Room for Growth
Lastly, the design should provide the option to expand as the practice grows or adds future services.
Movable walls, room dividers, and cages on wheels can provide flexible workspaces that can change with your needs. You can also consider adding a second floor dedicated to concierge services.
Recap
Veterinarians should place high importance on a functional exterior and interior design for their workspaces. This will ensure a more productive staff, healthier pets, and happier pet owners.
Contact ZP Architects & Engineers for a consultation to discuss the possibilities of your veterinary hospital project.
