Nestled in the desert northeast of Phoenix, AZ lies Taliesin West, a living tribute to Frank Lloyd Wright whose residents carry on his visionary architectural designs. These capable and intuitive architects along with a myriad of support staff have now brought their mastery through a wonderful new direction, that is dentistry. Senior partner, Stephen Nemtin, one of the principal members of the firm has taken his creative spirit to health care and has designed a wonderfully user friendly dental suite in Scottsdale, AZ for Nicholas J. Meyer, D.D.S, holistic dentistry and neuromuscular dentist (TMJ).
From the moment one walks through the door a peaceful serene feeling pervades the senses. Curved walls separate the treatment rooms from the reception area and give a feeling of openness which helps to disarm the sense of fear so oft associated with a dental office. The muted earth tone colors impart a feeling of warmth and intimacy and the full spectrum indirect lighting subtly illuminates the suite where needed yet does not intrude on an individual as is the tendency of ordinary harsh fluorescent lighting.
Dr. Nicholas J. Meyer approached Mr. Nemtin about designing a new dental suite upon making his decision to move his practice. The suite he left was traditional and had a cramped institutional feeling. Dr. Meyer envisioned an environment which would support the individual not only dentally but spiritually and emotionally as well.
Once the site, a moderately sized mixed use building, was selected, Mr. Nemtin visited the suite. Initial examination revealed a blank canvass. The single story suite space was unoccupied and had only bare walls, floor, and ceiling. The suite occupies an outside corner location in the 20 year old mixed use professional/commercial building bordering Paradise Valley and Scottsdale, Arizona.
Dr. Meyer had discussed his desires with Mr. Nemtin and Mr. R. Nicholas “Ryc” Loope of Taliesin. He wanted a unique design where a person would feel good, as much as possible, about going to the dentist. Dr. Meyer was unsure of what that specifically meant but felt enough confidence in Mr. Nemtin and his team to bring that feeling to life. He was concerned about the traditional linearity found in doctors offices as well as the harshness of the overhead lighting. Being holistically oriented, Dr. Meyer felt that he wanted to have the suite as supportive of the individual in as many ways as possible. With that thumb nail sketch to go on Mr. Nemtin began to conceptualize the future office.
Under the auspices of “organic Architecture” the drawings took form. The term “Organic Architecture” was coined by the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959), though never well articulated by his cryptic style of writing:
- “So here I stand before you preaching organic architecture: declaring organic architecture to be the modern ideal and the teaching so much needed if we are to see the whole of life, and to now serve the whole of life, holding no traditions essential to the great TRADITION. Nor cherishing any preconceived form fixing upon us either past, present or future, but instead exalting the simple laws of common sense or of super-sense if you prefer determining form by way of the nature of materials…” – Frank Lloyd Wright, An Organic Architecture, 1939
The requirement to have each treatment room and private office have window exposure dominated the theme. with structural analysis it was found feasible to move some window walls and to open up a corner to an angled portico. This brought in a good deal of light and gave way to a very dramatic entry.
The need for the special use dental equipment dictated the balance of the suite. The ease of accessibility to the setup/sterilization area, utility room, dark room/lab presented special challenges. A dental suite has very special plumbing considerations and the need to accommodate the plumbing and treatment room played heavily on the design.
What evolved over four months or so was a hub and spoke design. with the reception desk being the center of activity and everything radiating from there. As you walk through the front door you are greeted with a view of the office and a feeling of openness and expansiveness. To either left or right are floor to ceiling glass panes which allow for a look into the corner of a treatment room yet does not allow for intrusion of privacy of the person who may be in the dental chair. The glass also allows some of the outdoors in by having visual access to the outdoors via the large plate windows of the outer wall.
Visually pleasing, you are invited in further by the arcing reception desk and soft colors. Overhead, red oak trim adds an air of stated elegance while not having a dominant presence. strategically located cantilevered hexagonal grills made of red oak act as diffusers for the ventilation system and light fixtures. These are positioned in each treatment room over the dental chair and in the reception area and the doctors private office. The grills provide for a dramatic separation between the lower level central ceiling and the raised outer ceiling.
The treatment rooms are divided between the usual size and shape and the unusual sized and shaped. They are separated from each other by a large cabinet which houses an x-ray unit. One objective in the treatment rooms was to keep the walls, ceiling and chair area uncluttered and clean looking. It is believed that having equipment dangling over someones body while in the chair gives a sense of being hemmed in and is intimidating. This translated effectively into having no equipment hanging from the ceiling or in view of the patient which would give the person coming for care any appendages to view when in treatment. Also there is no dental equipment being used in an “over the patient” manner. To that end the equipment is housed totally behind the patient. The only piece of equipment in view is the chair mounted task light.
Flooring in the treatment rooms, lab/darkroom, water closet and sterilization areas are mauve colored composition tile. with increasing requirements for infection control and hygiene practices a vinyl floor was deemed more appropriate than carpet. In the non clinical areas a short looped commercial grade carpet is laid down. It carries a color scheme of light grey, dark grey and mauve.
The doctors private office is a multipurpose design. It has at one end a small three foot round table with chairs for private meetings and consultations. At the other end is a small private desk area with book case. These are visually defined by the ceiling levels, lighting, and cantilevered red oak grill.
Comments by the clients of Dr. Meyer have been very favorable.
A re-occurring term as to the feeling is that of comfortableness. With others being warm and intimate. The observation has been made that the space imparts a safe feeling. One patient commented recently that the color of the wall feels healing. The color is a clay tone and she associated that to clay packs that one would put on a bee sting. To the end that Dr. Meyer wanted to impart good feelings to his new suite, Mr. Nemtin and Taliesin West have succeeded magnificently.
In harmony with the concern and awareness for the environment of the space itself, and recognizing the individual responsibility we all share to help make our environment a better place, Dr. Meyer brought to the suite the first of it’s kind in the states. Installed in an inconspicuous place adjacent to the dental unit is a scrap metal recycling unit. This unit has the capability of scavenging 98% of the waste silver, gold, mercury and other metals used in dental restorations. The company which manufactures this device, Meta-Sys, is based in Austria. According to company records Dr. Meyer is the first on in the United States to acquire and have installed one of these units. Devices such as this are already required in many European countries as a way of limiting one of the sources of heavy metals being discharged into the municipal waste water systems.
Nicholas J. Meyer, DDS is a holistic dentist, neuromuscular dentist and a sleep apnea expert in Scottsdale and Phoenix at Millenium Dental Associates, http://www.milldental.com or call 480.948.0560 or 888.948.0560.
