With offices in three neighborhoods and a separate therapy/gymnasium space in another town, Pain and Rehabilitative Consultants Medical Group (PRCMG) wanted to consolidate all of its operations under one roof in Emeryville, Calif.

Kava Massih Architects (Berkeley, Calif.) was hired to transform a brick-and-wood-framed warehouse, which last served as office space, into a 16,500-square-foot outpatient clinic that could accommodate 27 exam rooms, private doctor offices, open-office staff space, an exercise/therapy room, and classrooms.

The building’s original brick walls and wood roof structure were exposed, and existing windows and skylights were utilized to bring in natural light. A floating blue soffit stretches from the entry through the waiting area and into the exam suites and provides a wayfinding marker for patients.

In addition to interior design, the adaptive re-use project involved seismic upgrades, the replacement of existing mechanical and electrical systems, and exterior changes, including ADA access improvements, upgraded parking, new landscaping, and building signage. A local steel artist was also contracted to install a site sculpture at the apex of the flat-iron shaped site.

One of the challenges of the project involved the inclusion of the Northern California Functional Restoration Program (NCFRP), an interdisciplinary pain-management program. Although NCRFP is part of PRCMG, the group wanted it to have its own identity and space for classroom training, physical therapy, and psycho-therapy. Designers placed the program at one end of the building and gave it a separate entrance and waiting area.

The $1.8 million project was completed in March 2012 and occupied by April.