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Building Design for Animals
Article by Dave Gasser, AIA, NCARB
Building Conversions: Diamond in the Rough
Before you commit to a ground-up build, consider the potential of converting an existing building into your dream veterinary hospital.
Pass through any town anywhere and you’re bound to see vacant buildings; old bookstores, closed restaurants, that clothing store that just didn't make it, each one with a 'Space Available' or 'For Sale' sign out front. Meanwhile your own veterinary practice has seen better days. The roof needs to be redone, the floors should be replaced, and there is just not enough space at all! You could try and renovate what you have, or search for a vacant piece of land ten miles down the road, but maybe your new hospital is that old storage warehouse right across the street.
Building conversions are certainly one way many of BDA's clients have gone, with great success! "Adaptive Reuse" is taking an old building that once was another business and repurposing it. There is great value to be found in making an old building new again, so long as the due diligence is done and a strategic plan is in place, and certainly you want the opinions and services of experts on your side.
This 3-part series will go over the benefits of building conversions, the pitfalls and what to look for when choosing a building, and how to achieve success.
Benefits of Building Conversions
There are several options available when it comes to updating an aging practice; renovation, a new ground-up undertaking, or a building conversion. They all have their pros and cons. Building conversions are sort of the middle-ground between updating an old practice and going with a whole new build. It's a new to you building, with the building shell already done. There will need to be modifications and upgrades and maybe an exterior facelift, but you're not exactly starting from scratch either. Some of the benefits of going with an Adaptive Reuse plan include:
Prime Locations: It can be hard finding vacant land within a developed city center or suburban community; by making use of an existing building, you can gain a site in a highly visible area that might otherwise be unavailable.
Smaller Price Tag: Commercial real estate can come with a lower cost than you'd find going from the ground up. The building already exists, utilities are often already in place, and a built environment usually requires little to no site development or infrastructure.
Time Savings: With a building conversion, time can be saved in both design and construction. Your building already has a footprint, your designer just needs to make that available space work for you, and if you've already got a built shell, there's no (or at least minimal) sitework for a contractor to do and they can skip straight to building out the interior rather than starting from scratch with foundation work and exterior framing.
Open for Business: Unlike renovations to your existing practice which have to happen while business is running (or can cause business closures during the process), renovating another building lets you continue to work in your old practice while your new place is being built. When it comes time to make the move it's a matter of days to get up and running again, rather than interruptions over weeks and months.
When it comes to building conversions, existing buildings offer the same benefits that make rental space desirable for many new businesses. They have less initial cost and less time is required before opening the doors. Even better, you own it!
[Avoid costly mistakes: discover the potential challenges of building conversions in Part 2 of our series - Building Conversions: Potential Pitfalls and Challenges.]
