Practice profile


M-Brace-ing a new practice W


hen he bought the property in Bathgate earmarked for his new ortho-


dontic practice, Raja Mahesh knew it would take a considerable amount of work before the building would be ready to welcome patients. However, little did he know


that it would take as long as two years and include some major reconstruction work, including replacing or repairing the vast majority of the woodwork in the building. Mahesh, who opened his first


M-Brace Orthodontics practice in Glenrothes in June 20ı0, bought his second property at 2-4 North Bridge Street in February 20ı0. He hired Farahbod Nakhaei and his team at NV Design & Construction from the outset and together they set about bringing the building up to standard. As it turned out, there were a


couple of initial stumbling blocks that needed to be overcome before the building control application could be granted. The first problem was in relation to disabled access. As the practice was situated over two floors, Mahesh and Farahbod had to argue their case against installing a lift – which, as well as being prohibitively expensive, would have taken up a significant amount of space. They argued that, with one surgery downstairs and all staff and patient facilities being situ- ated on the ground floor, disabled patients could easily be seen in the downstairs surgery and if they were to hire a disabled member of staff, they would be able to work solely on the ground floor. The second stumbling block to


getting the building warrant was the original wooden staircase that was situated in the centre of the


that the floorspace taken up by the old central wooden stairwell, could be better utilised on the ground and first floors. With all paperwork in place by


May 20ıı, work started in September of that year. However, no sooner had work began than it became apparent that the whole building was infested with woodworm. The more the workers explored the woodwork, the bigger the problem was found to be, as Mahesh explained: “When I bought the premises I knew it had problems, but the extent of it took us all by surprise. At one point during the construction, you could stand on the ground floor and see the roof two storeys above you. The building had been stripped to its shell.” After having a clean asbestos


survey report, all the floorboards in the building had to be pulled up, skirting boards ripped out and everything that was salvageable had to be treated to ensure it stayed free from woodworm for the foreseeable future. On top of that, it was clear that the


building. Building control regula- tions for new dental practices prohibit wooden staircases for fire safety reasons and, as such, it needed to come out. The plan that Farahbod and his team came up with was to remove the staircase and install a new metal stairway in the back corner of the building, meaning


Above (from top): The


exterior of the new practice, surgery number one and the reception area


entire ground floor structure was badly affected with damp. Farahbod and his team removed all the rotten floorboards and replaced them with a concrete floor. There was also a small amount of structural strength- ening that was needed on the gable wall at the rear of the practice but, with the building dating back to ı856, Farahbod explained that a certain amount of subsidence is not uncommon. All the walls and loft spaces


were insulated and all the windows were replaced with double-glazed wooden sash and case windows to maintain the original period feature. The main structural work was completed in January 20ı2 to allow


Continued » Scottish Dental magazine 37


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