Unkenholz Family Dental

Rapid City, South Dakota

A long since vacated radiology office (the previous occupant moved to the suburbs), the building is situated between an art museum and a church in downtown Rapid City. The building sat vacant for many years, with no potential buyer being able to reimagine all the windowless concrete walls – perfect for blocking radiation…and also imagination, apparently. Enter: Dr. Unkenholz. After a year of looking for land to develop or a building to renovate, he hired us to transform the old radiology building into a modern dental clinic.

Dr. Unkenholz needed at least nine dental operatory rooms. In addition to the operatory rooms, the building accommodates a laboratory, sterilization area, waiting room, front desk, business office, patient bathroom, staff break meeting room, staff locker room, doctor’s bathroom, doctor’s office, and a few other ancillary spaces.

Our goal was to create a better building envelope and bring more natural light into the operatory rooms. New exterior finishes, carefully chosen wall assemblies, and tapered roof insulation solve the many existing challenges while keeping the clinic comfortable and efficient. Working with city officials and neighboring property owners, we were able to add windows on the lot lines, bringing much needed natural light into the building.