The office building environment today has had a continuous rise in remote workers. This has led to billions of rentable office space being left unused. As the commercial real estate landscape adjusts to the changes in work environments, traditional office buildings are adapting in unique ways to the healthcare design trends.
Medical tenants occupying spaces that have historically been for professional office use have increased since the pandemic. Traditional office buildings’ high vacancies have led many to open unique opportunities to medical practices due to financial necessity. With establishing a medical office in a traditional office space, there is risk and reward.
Typical Medical Office Buildings (MOB) house practices that range from urgent care facilities to dentist offices. MOB requirements are different than commercial office buildings in terms of patient privacy, ceiling height and wall thickness, elevator and corridor size, slab thickness and depth, equipment needs, and more. In looking at the design process for the condition of a medical practice moving into a traditional office building, there would be additional discussions for planning the current and future needs of the practice.
“Landlords in traditional office settings often provide more generous tenant improvement allowances than those typically found in dedicated medical office buildings.”
Cramer & Shandler, 2024
While MOBs are designed and built for medical practices, they often come with challenges that limit the practice from being able to function at 100%. The opportunity lies in leveraging traditional office spaces to their fullest potential, providing a financial benefit to the tenant, access to higher quality spaces, faster speed to market than an MOB space, and increased ability to design your practice to function at its best.
The shift of medical practices into traditional office buildings signals a new era for healthcare design; one where flexibility, adaptability, and foresight are essential. This transformation challenges conventional norms, requiring attention to patient privacy, accessibility, structural requirements, and workflow efficiency, all while creating an environment that feels welcoming and functional.
At LeVino Jones, we see these shifts as a chance to push healthcare design forward. By combining strategic planning, innovative design solutions, and a deep understanding of patient and staff-centered workflows, we help medical practices not only occupy space but thrive in it. This forward-thinking approach positions medical offices to meet the demands of modern healthcare while redefining what a functional and beautiful medical space can be.
Castro, M., McCormick, J., & Smondrowski, K. (2023, October 5). Retrofitting traditional office space for medical users. Transwestern. https://transwestern.com/news-detail/retrofitting-traditional-office-space-for-medical-users
Cramer, J., & Shandler, M. (2024, December 16). Why traditional office buildings are opening their doors to medical tenants. Knowledge Leader – Commercial Real Estate Content Hub. https://knowledge-leader.colliers.com/marc-shandler/why-traditional-office-buildings-are-opening-their-doors-to-medical-tenants/
The future of office space: How the rise of remote work is changing the real estate landscape | CBRE Investment Management. (2023, July 7). https://www.cbreim.com/insights/articles/stcwc-how-the-rise-of-remote-work-is-changing-the-real-estate-landscape
