In late July, Animal Emergency & Referral Center (AERC) in Minnesota held a grand reopening of its facility in Oakdale, Minn., which underwent a $4.5 million, 17,000-sf expansion that included the installation of medical equipment that is equal to, and sometimes better than, equipment found in medical centers that treat human patients.
The clinic, which was constructed in 2009, over the past several years has increased its pet care specialty services to include internal medicine, surgery, rehabilitation, cardiology, dentistry and oral surgery, dermatology, radiology, and neurology.
As it business grew (it now has 10 specialties), AERC also became better known as a referral service for other clinics.
In 2015, “we looked at how we could max out the Oakdale site,” says Stephen Iaria, AIA, Managing Principal|Architecture for Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates in Grove Heights, Minn., which has worked with AERC since the Center started operating out of a strip mall in 2000. (AERC also has a clinic in St. Paul, Minn.)
AERC owned some contiguous land, and the city of Oakdale “was okay” about the Center using it for expansion, says Iaria. The new space provides more room for staff and patients, as well as for specialized medical equipment.
Because it has two operating tables, one of the three surgery suites in the expanded Oakdale facility needed to have better air quality and circulation than are required in an operating room for humans. Image: Adam Kennedy Photography
“It was designed as if it would be for human medicine,” says Iaria. This includes three surgery suites, one of which exceeds human requirements for air quality and circulation because it has two operating tables. That suite also required specialized lighting.
AERC selected MRI and CT scan equipment from the human medical field for their extra power and better image quality. The MRI machine weighs approximately 3,000 pounds and had to be lifted into place via crane. Because of the MRI’s magnetic pull, no surrounding components could contain metal. The CT machine required lead shielding due to its radiation emission.
“There is a real need for these specialists, and having a clinic that can function and house specialty equipment and adapt to the changing medical needs is such a large piece of that,” says Dr. Karen Reynhout, DVM, AERC’s Hospital Director.
A 3,000-pound MRI machine that was installed during the clinic's renovation and expansion provides the same image quality and power as machines used for humans. Image: Adam Kennedy Photography
In addition to the expansion, AERC had some minor work done to its existing building, including the conversion of one space to a multipurpose room. The renovation team also installed an elevator into a pit that had been designed a decade ago. And a smaller surgery suite was converted into an ultrasound room.
The second floor of the Oakdale clinic is now primarily office and boardroom space.
The second floor of the clinic is now used mostly for offices and meeting rooms. Image: Adam Kennedy Photography
Krech, O’Brien was the architect, structural engineer, and interior designer on this project. The renovation team included Emanuelson-Podas (MEP), DJ Kranz (GC), and The Center for Diagnostic Imaging (specialty equipment vendor).
During the renovation, Iaria says his firm “got deep into” how to detail rooms in order to have “an ultra clean environment.”
Related Stories
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
LEO A DALY hires Peter Yakowicz to oversee VA projects
New hire will work with healthcare and federal market sectors on programs specifically for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
| Jul 23, 2014
Holistic care model, regulatory changes make outpatient facilities a high priority [2014 Giants 300 Report]
With the Affordable Care Act still in its infancy, Building Teams are seeing reverberations in the investment decisions of healthcare providers, including new ideas about the types of buildings they are asked to create.
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, McCarthy, and Skanska USA top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare contractors and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Jacobs, and URS Corp. top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Top Healthcare Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
HDR, Stantec, and HKS top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest healthcare architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.
| Jul 21, 2014
Economists ponder uneven recovery, weigh benefits of big infrastructure [2014 Giants 300 Report]
According to expert forecasters, multifamily projects, the Panama Canal expansion, and the petroleum industry’s “shale gale” could be saving graces for commercial AEC firms seeking growth opportunities in an economy that’s provided its share of recent disappointments.
| Jul 20, 2014
IPD contract saves time and money for cancer center [2014 Building Team Awards]
Partners share the risk and reward of extreme collaboration on this LEED Silver project, which relies heavily on Lean principles.