RIBA Award-Winning Dental Practice Rises From The Lush British Countryside

Many people find going to the dentist to be one of the more stressful and unsettling experiences we have to face in life - and the white, sterilized dental surgery rooms do not ease the situation. Seeking to turn this paradigm on its head, <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://www.davidsheppard-architects.com/" target="_blank">David Sheppard Architects</a> created a relaxing woodland dental practice that incorporates local materials while blending in with Devon’s luscious countryside. Dubbed <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://www.brownsdentalpractice.co.uk/" target="_blank">Brown’s Dental Practice</a>, the project was recently awarded with this year’s <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://www.architecture.com/Awards/RIBAAwards/RIBAAwards.aspx" target="_blank">RIBA Award</a>.

Designed by David Sheppard Architects using local materials like stone, wood and glass, the double-height dental practice blends perfectly with the surrounding environment.

The outside of the building features two contrasting sides - one made from local stone walls, and the other from rough-cut sweet <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut" target="_blank">chestnut</a> planks, which were air-dried in a barn for four months and painted with pigment from an ebony-colored steel that was left to rust in water for weeks.

The dental surgery center also features a sloping green sedum roof that follows the topography of the site and a range of <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://inhabitat.com/index.php?s=photovoltaic+panels" target="_blank">photovoltaic panels</a> that produce renewable energy used by the lights and machines.

The architect worked very hard to balance the patients’ requirement for privacy with the practitioners’ need for an airy light-filled workspace.

Natural light comes in through <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://inhabitat.com/beijings-massive-national-hotel-will-house-a-107000-square-foot-indoor-rainforest/" target="_blank">skylights</a>, while big airy windows provide calming views of the green countryside to inspire tranquillity.

The clinic’s interiors are made from panelled birch plywood with continuous rubber floors. They have been <a title="RIBA Award Winner Brown’s Dental Practice Blends Within The Luscious British Countryside " href="http://inhabitat.com/lets-talk-about-insulation-baby/" target="_blank">insulated</a> within another local, biodegradable material - sheep’s wool.