204 Australasian Dental Practice March/April 2011

surgery | DESIGN

Invisalign Centre makes the connectionBy Joseph Allbeury

The Invisalign Centre in Sydney’sBondi Junction is a unique concept inthe world today and its success or oth-

erwise is being watched from far and wide.The role of the facility is to help patientsfind out all about Invisalign and whether ornot they are candidates for treatment.With a consumer marketing budget in

excess of $2 million a year for Australiaalone, Invisalign has become the mostrecognised brand in orthodontics, yet tradi-tionally, the company has never met itsultimate customer, the dental patient. Whilstcase numbers are continuing to grow expo-nentially for the ten year old product, thereare still patients failing to “connect” with asuitably experienced Invisalign provider -be it dentist or orthodontist.

“The Invisalign Centre is all about creatingthat connection between patients who wantInvisalign treatment and the orthodontists ordentists who can deliver it,” said Mark vanWeelde, Managing Director, Invisalign Aus-tralia. “Our focus as a company is obviouslyto increase the number of patients under-going treatment and we are constantlylooking at ways to facilitate this. Afterinvesting millions of dollars creating aware-ness and ten years of operation in the market,initiatives like the Invisalign Centre reflect amore focussed approach to achieving this.“Part of the role of the centre is to offer

information to anyone interested inInvisalign. Orthodontists and dentists areoften very busy and don’t have half an hourto an hour to spend providing information on

our products and answering questions so theCentre has two staff members dedicated tothis role.“We also employ three part-time dentists

who can consult with prospective candidatesfor treatment and diagnose whether or notthey are suitable for Invisalign. Invisaligntreatment is then referred to experiencedInvisalign providers who know our systemwell and use it routinely. It may sound like alot of trouble to go to but again, it fulfils aneed we have identified.”Bondi Junction, in Sydney’s eastern

suburbs, is a densely populated semi-com-mercial area a short distance from the famousBondi Beach. Retail space is often onlyavailable at a premium in one of the city’sshopping hubs.

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“Finding the right location for the Invisalign Centre wasn’teasy,” said Ms Tracey van Weelde, Development Manager atInvisalign Australia. “We wanted a site with high visibility topassing trade and eventually found an ideal premises. It’s oppo-site the entry and exit street to the Westfield Shoppingtown atBondi Junction as well as being on busy Edgecliff Road. Plusthere are a lot of schools in the area. The trade off, however, wasthat the building was practically derelict and required major struc-tural works. It was built some 60 years ago with little workcompleted since.“Based on the scale of the project and its ultimate use as a

dental facility, we went in search of specialist help to achieve theresults we were looking for. This search ultimately led us to Lev-itch Design Associates who have both an excellent reputation asinnovators and market leaders as well as core skills in the exactareas we required.”

surgery | DESIGN

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206 Australasian Dental Practice March/April 2011

The brief to LDA was to design a space that didn’t feel like adental surgery as the principle aim of the Centre is to provideinformation. Apart from bringing the leased premises up to codein all areas, the brief also included designing an interior toinclude a reception and waiting area, two large consult roomseach capable of accommodating 4-5 people together with aworkstation, two dental treatment rooms, an OPG room plusrestrooms, staff facilities and offices.Further investigation revealed the complete extent of the

building’s disrepair with a major upgrade needed to meet fireregulations, disabled access requirements and the BuildingCode of Australia.

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208 Australasian Dental Practice March/April 2011

“Anne Levitch and Antony Poate were complete professionalsin their approach and knew exactly how to accommodate what weneeded into the space,” Ms van Weelde said. “They were alsovery adept at dealing with the local council so that we could getas much out of the space as possible without having to go toextraneous lengths to comply with certain regulations whichwould have largely been impossible or very impractical.“We also connected with them on a personal level, which I find

important and they became very enthusiastic supporters of theproject and could see that it was a very innovative idea.“From a professional perspective, they were quick and efficient

with good communication throughout the project and a team ofwell-trained staff.”The ground floor level of the premises incorporates the consult

rooms and, to comply with disabled access requirements, one ofthe treatment rooms. The main treatment room, OPG, offices andstaff facilities are located on the first floor.

“One of LDA’s great design achievements is the new staircasethat runs from the carpark to the first floor,” Ms van Weelde said.“Council was originally specifying that we needed to install anelevator and fortunately, LDA were able to convince them other-wise. The original staircase was falling down and uncompliant soits replacement is a perfect fit to the space and fully compliantwith regulations.“One by one, LDA worked through all the requirements we needed

to comply with and ensured their design addressed every detail.“As a further example, there is a step up to the practice from the

street that needed to be addressed to comply with disabled accessrequirements. Antony was able to liaise with the council to avertthe need to install what would have amounted to an internal rampthat ran the length of the building. Instead, we have a removableramp that we can install if required, together with a door bell thatcan be used to call for assistance.”Fire doors and a sprinkler system were also installed as part of

the construction process to comply with fire regulations.“LDA have an excellent knowledge of all the requirements for

building design as well as the unique requirements of a dental sur-gery. Anne and Antony were very professional to deal with andhad a very good network of like minded professionals.“It was a pleasure to work with a company that shares many of

the same goals as our own and every day we work at theInvisalign Centre we are thankful for the insight and attention todetail provided at the planning stage that has translated into anideal workspace.”

SummaryThe Practice

Principal Invisalign Centre

Type of Practice Diagnosis and Education

Location Bondi Junction, Sydney, New South Wales

Size 250 square metres

No of chairs 2

The Team

Design Levitch Design Associates

Senior Designer Antony Poate

Construction: Burmah Construction

Joinery: BK Kitchens

Equipment

Units Sirona C8 Solo

Sterilisation Statim 5000

OPG: Sirona Orthophos XG5

Compressor: Dürr Primo

Suction: Dürr VS600

Software Orthotrac

BALCONY

FIRE EXIT

WAITING AREA

ENTRY

DISABLED WC

WC

1

CONSULTATION ROOM 2

CONSULTATION ROOM 1

TREATMENT AREA 1

TREATMENT AREA 2

sto

re

STAFF AREA

BALCONY BELOW

PRACTITIONERS AREA

Inte

rne

t

STORE

OPG

STORE

STORE

PATIENT WC

RECEPTION

GROUND FLOOR

FIRST FLOOR

surgery | DESIGN

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