New York City is noted for its fast moving and “need it yesterday” culture but there are some pockets of practices that are and should be the exact opposite. The “grab and go” method is great for the favorite lunch spot or the café spinning out morning coffee, but not for our four-legged family members.
A trip to the vet is serious business for both pet parent and pet in this great mega-metropolis. For some, it’s relatively easy if the vet is in walking distance, but for others, the vet may be too far or your pet is too sick to make the otherwise easy journey. It’s a jolting cab ride, an unfamiliar carry along case, a pocket full of treats for calming and at least a couple of hours of your day. Speaking from my own experience, by the time I arrive at the vet, I’m a hot mess, in need of a treat and just admitting that, I can double imagine what state my dog is in!
In true honesty, my design intelligence as a design business owner has been crafted from a well-balanced, years earned and tested set of projects. But with all the research that has led me to success or not so much, I have learned over years of design practice that the one true teacher that always sits right beside you is your experience as a human being walking through the years as is everyone else. It has and continues to give me the ability to relate, empathize, understand, approach and most importantly - pinpoint the signs of what can become 1000% better.
I have never been to a well-planned or even comfortable vet office or animal hospital. There, the secret is out and I’m sticking to it, but that does not equate to the level of care I’ve received, which makes it all the more mind blowing and confusing. I have owned dogs, consecutively, since my early twenties. They are part of my existence and I’ve seen all stages of their lives from birth to death and have frequented my share of animal hospitals, veterinary offices/clinics, pet stores of all kinds and shelters; both urban and suburban environments. I still support the first sentence of this paragraph!
Let’s break down the macro-scale as I see it – The Big 3…
Main points of the consumer point of view towards pets, their care and who provides that care.
1. The pet industry in the US and I am sure most other counties is on the top ten of hand-over-fist money making. We love our pets and will spend our money on their care, happiness and cuteness; this is proven over and over.
2. Veterinarians and their staff are highly respected for their keen intelligence, years of education, kindness to all pets and animals and their unwavering willingness to go beyond what is expected for an animal.
3. It has to be mentioned and let’s face it, a trip to the vet is a significant out-of-pocket and most times, a quaking out-of-body experience; knocked over by how much one visit can set me back.
You have here, a winning scenario on both sides! And on the micro-scale - A consumer willing to spend money and a professional committed to providing the highest level of care and not all for profit, but for a large percentage of passion.
Whatever the “defined” interior environment of veterinary offices has been in the past, leave it there! The lineage; success and tribulations of design and veterinary offices is another article. This winning scenario, however, leaves an open path to modernization that will be supported; a welcomed advancement to a significant practice that reaches kindness and emotion like no other sector of design.
So, when I arrive after a jarring and frightening cab ride with a under the weather pet, what type of environment do I know will offer me and my pet tranquility; for both what has already taken place and what is about to take place. Without detailing the gamut of design strategies, I will simply state that it ought to be an environment that I’d want to visit again and my dog will pull me towards as if it were a dog park with a fountain on a hot summer day that is embedded in their memory at site. Tall order? Not really.
The answer is not a spa like environment dripping with well though-out design details at every corner of the room making you feel as if you are anywhere else but your veterinarian’s office. Although, in my experience, distraction would have been the best treat for my more turbulent visits, but overall, its not the solution. Yes, the space should be the exact opposite of austere and that leaves a wide range of design decisions that would be successful, but what I am getting at here is what about THIS office makes the jarring cab ride, the distance and hassle all worth coming HERE and not to the local vet down the street? What does THIS office have that others DON’T? What is the reason you are a client HERE and not at another vet?
In NYC, we look for the most modern, cutting edge and aware practices when it comes to our care and that of our family members, two and four legs. This comes from the considerable amount of competition and levels of success most NYC practices engage in when they pay their first month’s rent on a space to hang their sign. It’s what NYC is all about and is why we boast to have a leading edge from coffee to oncology.
OK, all of that, for me, a native New Yorker and a pet parent for over 25 years translates into one word, a very large emotion and a logical deduction; TRUST! WOW, right?
Do I trust this office?
Where does trust come from or how is trust achieved – with anything? Transparency, right? Having it all right out there, no secret compartments or creative withholding of any act or process. No questions like, “what happens behind that door”?
Well, I should let you all fill in the blanks here, but I will go on a bit more. The tranquility I was speaking about previously is that trust being consistently shown to me and reinforcing that I am getting the best care HERE. So, what does design have to do with any of this? Everything! Other than being an intern at the vet’s office to see how they go through their day, the way an establishment can show their process and offer transparency is through the design intent of their establishment.
Modern vs. traditional! What is a modern business vs. a traditional business?
open vs. closed
seen vs. unseen
transparency vs. solid
These are the paradigms in which our design team uses to begin to brand a veterinary office or clinic. The branding exposes how the design of the space; circulation, adjacencies, function and programming will show or not show the practice’s process to their clients. This is the most important decision in the design process. It will tell us how to proceed with planning, what materials to specify and what type of wall systems to use and where.
Here is an animation of the general idea of the circulation and flow – all interaction is open and each space, even medical spaces are not encumbered by solid barriers. It is a good begin point for our team to relate adjacencies and programming.
We’ve noticed a great shift in the modernization of both veterinary and medical care spaces; moving fully into open, seen and transparent communication through design. We are strategically designing glass wall systems, allowing spaces to flow into each other without a wall or door barrier and allowing a client’s procession with their pet down a given corridor to have a visual to other pets being cared for and to be seen from within the exam rooms or other spaces.
This significant variation allows the client to see all the workings of the practice and have the level of care they are receiving reinforced by not only how their pet is treated, but how other veterinarians and staff members are caring for other client’s pets. It offers an amazing amount of honesty to the practice and the design decisions of the space, all areas, establish that level of trust I look for along with the cutting edge that NYC continues to excel in.
Have we convinced you of the jarring cab ride yet? Was it worth it? For me, a cutting edge YES. If a veterinary office is willing to be instinctive enough to understand the value of our pets and how much we’d do for them while also connecting with our emotions and deductive logic by allowing us into their process through smart branding and design, then, like we say in the city,
They are the whole package – TAXI……..!!!