A NATIVE OF Greensboro, North Carolina, and a former Air Force captain, Dr. D. Brian Williams has been the sole owner and practitioner of this general practice in Charlotte for nearly 20 years. In 2018, though, he realized he had outgrown his existing space, an 1,100-square-foot office in a 10-story high-rise in the neighborhood of Eastover. He and his practice manager, Tyler Phillips, then took just seven months to devise the creative framework for a new office space down the street at Eastover Medical Park, where Dr. Williams bought 2,800 square feet from a former pediatric medical practice.

In tandem with Benco Dental’s Peter Stuart, their equipment specialist, Phillips and Dr. Williams put together a top-notch team, working with local Dimensions General Contractors for the build-out and Benco interior designer Monica Hanson for design consultation. “The goal was to have a space that flowed well,” Phillips says. “We wanted it to be welcoming, like people hanging out in a living room.”

The reception area’s crisp white-and-gray walls mix with an accent wall of reclaimed barn wood and birchwood wallpaper for a homey feel. Black faux- leather seating and deep blue-green vermicelli arm-chairs add color. One bold choice was eschewing the walls that separate the six operatories, instead position-ing cabinetry with white countertops as dividers. “You have dual entry from either side, but at the same time you have enough privacy,” Phillips says. “We really paid attention to detail with the colors and the floor, and how they bring out the colors of the cabinets. That’s one of my favorite things—the whole big picture.”

Tyler Phillips’s
REPURPOSING TIPS

“Talk to colleagues who have been through this, and get input from everyone—what I would have chosen from the get-go was not what would have been best for us. Once I had talked to multiple people and learned what they’d experienced, I was better able to understand why what I had in mind wasn’t going to work. I’m very glad I took that advice.”