By Healthcare Facilities Today

Visions HealthCare, a private health and wellness center, spent nearly two years looking for a new location for its practice that was close to its existing one in Wellesley, Mass. so practitioners and staff could move freely between the two while capturing an expanded patient base. A shuttered restaurant in Dedham, Mass., filled the bill.

The goals of the project, along with some unusual characteristics of the site and building, created a number of construction challenges for the project team, according to an article on the Healthcare Design website. Zoning restrictions, sustainability requirements, and one giant billboard were all part of the mix as the architects, contractors, and designers figured out the best approach for this unique renovation. 

Visions’ goal for this building was not only to transform an existing eyesore but also to create a flagship for the brand. It hired Smook Architecture & Urban Design Inc.  in Boston to serve as the master planner and architect for the project. The company’s business plan includes the construction of 50 such facilities throughout New England and a 200-acre sustainable campus where doctors, students, and patients can share ideas on an approach to care that focuses on patients’ physical, biochemical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual needs to determine and treat the root cause of disease, the article said.

Originally a small wood-framed structure, the 80-year-old building on the chosen site had been expanded to a 7,000-square-foot restaurant.  It was close to a major arterial road, hospitals, and other amenities. Due to zoning restrictions, demolishing the building and constructing a new structure would have resulted in a poorly positioned, smaller building with inadequate parking, according to Healthcare Design. Adapted reuse with full renovation was chosen.

Read the article and view the photo gallery.