At San Francisco Veterinary Specialists, the team strives to offer the best in holistic and Western specialty medicine, and
to do so in a warm and caring way, says co-owner and CEO Dr. Alan Stewart, Dipl. ACVIM. "The cases we see as a specialty clinic
are critical, and it's important that clients and patients feel welcome and comfortable," says Dr. Stewart. "We want the entire
atmosphere to be calming—not sterile."
To achieve these goals, Dr. Stewart and his four co-owners solicited input from the entire staff and tapped an "excellent
design team" to convert a historic trolley-car repair building into an 11,300-square-foot oasis for superior veterinary care.
The judges of the 2005 Veterinary Economics Hospital Design Competition lauded the practice design for the warm and relaxing atmosphere, clean floor plan, interesting
and creative design, and use of a historic building—all of which earned San Francisco Veterinary Specialists a Merit Award.
Creating creature comfort
During the dot-com boom, finding affordable and available land in San Francisco was next to impossible. So the doctors at
San Francisco Veterinary Specialists wisely bided their time. After the sudden dot-com crash, they began searching for the
right property to expand their facility.
Five years of looking and six real-estate agents later, Dr. Stewart and his team found the perfect space. "The brick, exposed
wood, high ceilings, massive beams, and openness conveyed the warm, elegant feeling we were looking for," Dr. Stewart says.
The building, though built in 1906, is not listed as a historic landmark, which would have regulated its use and design. However,
the doctors and architect Warner Schmalz, AIA, wanted to leave much of the building in its natural state. "The interior design
concept was to use all the exposed structural elements, including heavy timber columns, beams, and ceiling joists, to express
the natural, uninhibited qualities of the space," Schmalz says. "These open, friendly, and approachable spaces gave the facility
the comfortable, soft environment the doctors wanted."
In addition to retaining the history of the building, Dr. Stewart says the crew wanted the building to fit into the urban-
loft environment in which it lies. "We wanted an open public area, and one that would also blend into our neighborhood, which
is comprised of light industry speckled with live-work lofts and artist studios," he says. "We did this by leaving the utilities
exposed, putting an animal art gallery in the public area, and keeping a spacious sensibility."
Dr. Stewart's favorite feature is the client service representative desk. "We wanted the front area to have a big, open desk, one that makes clients feel they can approach the client service representatives
and interact with them easily," he says.
Finding consensus
Award-winning floor plan: San Francisco Veterinary Specialists
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With five co-owners and five practice styles, it's only natural to encounter disagreements over the design. But the process
went surprisingly well, says John Gruntfest, co-owner and CFO. "We've all had a great deal of experience at different specialty
hospitals, so we knew what we wanted," he says. "Our shareholders communicate well, and we sought everyone's opinions as much
as possible and came up with a strong consensus."
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