Improving Access to Dental Care in Remote Communities
BMJ Architects designed Campbeltown Dental Access Centre for NHS Highland, creating a purpose-built facility that improves access to NHS dental care for residents of Campbeltown and the wider Kintyre peninsula. Located in Scotland’s most remote mainland town, the project responds to the challenge of delivering essential healthcare services in a rural setting where access, flexibility and local provision matter.
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Driving Sustainable Laboratory Performance
Located in Scotland’s most remote mainland town, the centre brings previously fragmented dental services together in one accessible setting. It also provides dedicated training facilities for dental students, supporting clinical education alongside local service delivery.
Set into a grassy embankment, the building is arranged as two distinct wings, each with its own identity. The centre provides accommodation for local independent dental practitioners, a clinical teaching environment, undergraduate outreach dental training facilities, eight dental suites and two independent decontamination suites.
Concept and Strategy
The design balances a professional clinical environment with a welcoming, approachable feel. The north block accommodates ancillary areas, plant, staff facilities and toilets, while the larger south-facing block contains reception, waiting areas, surgeries and dental utilities.
Natural light, views and wayfinding were central to the design approach. Large surgery windows provide calming views of the ground and sky, while the double-height waiting area creates a bright, open arrival experience. The rendered mono- and duo-pitched forms respond to the character of surrounding buildings and help the centre sit comfortably within its landscape.
Explore the Details
“BMJ designed the building keeping within our specifications, but were innovative in taking into account the landscape and surroundings. They kept to deadlines and were always very approachable and helpful.”
Head of Planning, Contracting and Performance, Argyll & Bute CHP
Reducing Environmental Impact
The development was constructed substantially in timber frame and insulated to a high standard. Its zoning strategy limits openings to the north while maximising light and solar gain to the south-facing public and clinical areas.
Extensive SuDS, including attenuation, were incorporated in response to the site’s remote location and high annual rainfall. The project achieved BREEAM Very Good.
