Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital Blog

 

Cindy's not the type to brag on her work, but I have no problem telling you all about what she did. I'm so impressed with the result. 

 

The new look is much more up to date, and a bit more functional, which is pretty amazing considering that we didn't remodel or change the structure of the building. Yet when one of the functions involves a nervous animal remaining calm, it is amazing what aesthetics and color achieves.

 

"We wanted to update the lobby to achieve a more contemporary look and a serene feeling," said Cindy Grant, Hospital Administrator.

 

To get there, Cindy took the unusual step of bringing in a restaurant designer! Oh, yes, she did. She brought in Lois Wachner-Solomon, a trained visual artist and restaurant designer to bring expertise in both color and spatial design. Makes sense, right?  We needed to address space and function and aesthetics, just like a restaurant would. Lois is known for really working with her clients to bring out what is truly right for their specific setting. 

 

I asked Ms. Wachner-Solomon about the challenges of improving our increasingly busy reception area and she said, "We talked about creating a family-friendly, up-beat lobby that is not chaotic, but colorful, inviting, and mitigates the many rows of patient files that share a room with the waiting area. We wanted to eliminate clutter and set a soothing tone for a nervous animal and worried parents."

 

I really think the new colors are just terrific. Cindy and Lois really hit the mark with what they set out to achieve. 

 

"We worked with colors such as Lancaster Whitewash, Shades of Spring, Ocean City Blue, Philipsburg Blue, Wythe Blue, Hemlock and Yorkshire Tan," Grant added. "Lois Wachner-Solomon is awesome and a joy to work with, and just made the design process simple and smooth. And to complete the new look, we added artwork by Kendra Luck, Dogumentarian."

 

Of course, if you don't already know, you probably suspect, we are huge fans of Kendra Luck's work. It is also nice to hear the warm response from clients, who like the art and seem to pick out a favorite new color from those they used.

 

The original color inspiration came from the exterior garden update, which was the first element of the update tackled about a year ago. Cindy chose local landscape designer, Toni Heren, whom we've known for decades from our own wonderful community. Lois Wachner-Solomon took several of the particularly beautiful shades of green in Toni Heren's garden design as a starting point. That's not as easy as it sounds since the human eye can discern more shades of green than any other color, and as such matching greens is very difficult (though perhaps easier for a designer). But from the landscape-inspired starting point, they derived all the colors we used inside and out.

 

The Hospital Update is almost complete. What's left to do? We still have a new sign to go up. Since Cindy's in charge we have no doubt that it will be in place before the upcoming Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital's 50th Anniversary. 

 

Approaching 50 years, we think she looks just as young and vibrant as ever, which is all Cindy's doing. Many kudo's to Cindy for a job really well done. Herself, she has really great taste and quite a design chop. She also picked great talent to help. She managed the process, soup to nuts. She maintained great quality control along the way. And she made it painless for the rest of the hospital. That's some trick. As always if you have any opinions let us know...