We’re Breaking Ground in Issaquah!

Back in December, we made an announcement here on the blog that we would soon be planting roots in Issaquah. Although Dudley Smiles has had an Issaquah location since 2014, we were subleasing office space and rapidly running out of room as our practice continued to grow. Our new building is going to be a standalone, state-of-the-art facility with plenty of space for us to expand, and we anticipated opening up in spring/summer 2017. We’re happy to say we’re right on target for that goal, having recently broken ground, making everything seem so much more real and exciting!

We wanted to share some of that excitement with all of you, and also remind you why we chose Issaquah as our second office location. Home is where the heart is, but if you’re lucky, it’s also where you get to spend time each day doing something you love. Issaquah definitely fits that bill, and we’re so thrilled to be building there.

So, what made us choose Issaquah in the first place? Mostly me. I’ve always wanted to live close to where I practice, and Issaquah is an area I’ve always felt drawn to, even growing up. It’s got access to many of the outdoor activities I love, like snowboarding and general exploring, but is also close to major metro areas. There’s a thriving and diverse population, with many first and second generation immigrants from all over the world contributing to a cultural melting pot that keeps things interesting.

You might have heard of a really small company called Costco….they have their headquarters in Issaquah, and we also have a large Microsoft employee population, with their headquarters in nearby Redmond. On top of being very culturally diverse, Issaquah is super family friendly, with top-rated schools and an abundance of parks, including my personal favorite, Lake Sammamish State Park.

Speaking of nature, we’ve incorporated it into the backdrop of the new building. The clinical area looks out on Issaquah Creek and its lush greenery.  We really want the building to be a simple and elegant work of art in and of itself. The ceilings will be totally exposed, and we’ll be using beautiful polished concrete flooring to add just the right amount of roughness. The walls will be white to make the area feel clean and streamlined, with pops of color scattered throughout.  To bring warmth to the office, literally, we’ll have fireplaces as well as large windows in the reception and clinical space. Ceiling fans will help move air around and also add an element of visual interest. We are really invested in making the new office feel warm and welcoming, echoing that same “home away from home” feeling it evokes in us.

While our interior designs might be rustic, the technology in the new building will be anything but. We’ll have the newest digital x-ray machines, digital scanning that will virtually eliminate the gross and gooey impressions our patients can’t stand, digital photography with digital charts, and multiple televisions for entertainment and educating patients.

That leads us to our patient population. Most of the patients we see come from the Issaquah and Skyline High School areas, but we also see lots of people from Bellevue, Snoqualmie, North Bend, and Sammamish. Being right off I-90, we are accessible in so many ways we weren’t before! And check it out – we have a Costco just one block away. Hello, $2 hot dogs and 2 lbs. of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts! Goodbye, waistline!

Here’s an architectural rendering of the building to give you an idea of what we’re aiming for when we’re done:

And the back of the building:

And here’s a quick video peek I have from the site, taken just a few days ago:

https://youtu.be/uh20wuUZ9UU

As you can see, we’re all so excited for our new Issaquah office and can’t wait to show it off once it’s all complete and ready for business. We’ll keep you updated here as the building progresses, so keep an eye on this space!