Live from the 2011 Hospital Design Conference: Keep a project journal while you build

When you build your veterinary facility, you'll work with a long list of experts on your project team. These professionals can help you come up with great ideas for your hospital, from floor plan configuration to countertop materials. It's up to you to ogranize these ideas and implement them in your facility.

So keep a project journal to help catalogue your brainstorming sessions, says Heather Lewis, AIA, a principal of Animal Arts in Boulder, Colo. You can jot your ideas down in a notebook, type them into a computer file, or punch them into your smartphone—whatever works best for you during the planning stages of your project. Documenting these ideas will help reduce stress during a hectic period, and will make sure you don't forget to include any great features into your new facility.