At 160 years old, Hunter’s Hill doctors surgery is one of the oldest practices in Sydney which, for many of those 160 years was run out of a small cottage.
So when it came to creating a new home for the now rapidly expanding surgery, it was important that it was a place where patients felt they hadn’t lost that personal connection with their trusted local GPs.
The practice’s new home also had to accommodate more services and practitioners such as a physiotherapist, dietitian and psychologist which the growing and increasingly affluent suburb of Hunter’s Hill now requires.
The result is a state-of-the art medical practice that reflects old values, but projects confidence in the new.
"The new practice has become a hub of Hunter’s Hill, it’s where people meet. It is a place people can have confidence in," says Dr Andrew Bowes, who has been with the practice since 1984 and worked "in a tiny space" for the majority of them.
The company behind the transformation is medical fit out specialist design studio, Space for Health, run by architect Jean-Michel Huet for whom Dr Bowes is full of nothing but praise.
"We had three tenders from different architects but Jean-Michel was the most impressive. He came in and presented several floor plans and every one of them was better than the ones we had."
The priority for the practice was to have quality medical rooms, good traffic flow between the waiting room and consulting areas, but also spaces – such as the physio area – that could house equipment.
And all of it had to be done, as with any busy practice, as fast as possible to lessen the impact upon the patients. That is why Space for Health offers a complete 'one stop shop' for their clients, from gaining planning permission, commissioning contractors and project managing the construction or refurbishment.
"It took eight weeks and the process was seamless," says Dr Bowes.
"Jean-Michel has a lot of ideas but he was also very responsive to our ideas."
He also solved problems as they arose quickly, efficiently and still with the priority on using the space to its best advantage.
"One big problem was we have pathology services here but they wanted a separate entrance, which left an awkward space. Jean-Michel put a window in the space, and has created a great area for our psychologist to work," Dr Bowes explains.
The approach made the doctors comfortable enough to give Space for Health "a blank canvass" upon which Huet created more than they had hoped for.
"The staff room for example is now quite separate and it is a place you can escape to. We also had wall spaces that were empty but Jean-Michel placed artwork there. It’s definitely had an effect on staff; you can see they enjoy coming to work," Dr Bowes comments.
"The reaction from patients has been nothing but positive as well.
"We work in an area which is quite wealthy and there are a lot of architects, the feedback is that Space for Health has created a masterpiece; a Michel Angelo of doctor’s surgeries!"
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