Animal shelters have come a long way from the days when, for many cats, dogs, and other animals, they were little more than waystations to euthanasia.
Case in point: the 37,000-sf County of Santa Clara Animal Services Center, which opened last month on eight acres in San Martin. Calif., represents the current era’s more humane approach to caring for abandoned or in-need creatures.
Designed by Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture in collaboration with the Florida-based animal care designer Bacon Group, and constructed by XL Construction, the Center allows the county’s animal care team to double, to 8,000, the number of pets it can care for annually. The building features advanced medical clinics, cat “condos” and dog “dorms,” specialized outdoor rehab space, and emergency shelter capacity for community pets.
IN THE WORKS FOR 10 YEARS
The Center is the only shelter in the county that takes in livestock. Its history of care includes adoption and volunteer programs.
The County’s previous animal shelter in San Martin was in an expanded, repurposed farmhouse built 40 years ago. But even the older shelter had a 95% live release rate, ranking it at the top among public shelters in California. With its new Animal Services Center, the County is committed to saving all animals, even when the shelter is full. The Center is “open admission,” meaning all animals are accepted from County service areas, regardless of temperament and condition.
The County and its Building Team have been planning and working on this project for more than a decade. The county’s board of supervisors approved the contract with Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture in February 2017. In June 2018, the board awarded a $31,452,406 CM at Risk contract to XL Construction with 240 calendar days of preconstruction and 580 days of construction. The County subsequently increased the guaranteed maximum price of the project by $3,917,669, and the construction phase was completed in 18 months.
READY FOR ANIMALS OF ALL SIZES
The Center's design was informed by principles for healthier buildings, energy efficiency, and minimizing animal anxiety.
The design of the new Center in San Martin draws from WELL Building principles, LEED green building standards, and Fear Free anti-anxiety concepts for pets. The facility includes a medical expansion for advanced veterinary care clinics with exam rooms, radiology, surgery, and recovery suites. Its amenities include a 2,500-sf barn with 10 stalls and extensive pastures that are among the few facilities in the region outfitted to shelter and rehabilitate large livestock. An indoor/outdoor community meeting space can accommodate up to 300 people for events.
XL’s contributions to this project included the application of advanced safety and disease control methods such as zoned air flow and sophisticated trench drain and chemical washdown systems. XL built with durable specialty materials—such as polished and sealed concrete and epoxy-coated floors, structural glazed tile and block walls, plastic toilet partitions, and Caesarstone countertops—that require little maintenance outside of regular topical cleaning.
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 7, 2011
GSA Unveils New Sustainable Workplace Design Tool
The U.S. General Services Administration launched its Sustainable Facilities Tool on Monday, Feb. 7. The innovative online tool will make it easier for both government and private-sector property managers and developers to learn about and evaluate strategies to make workplaces more sustainable, helping to build and create jobs in America’s clean energy economy of the future.
| Jan 21, 2011
Combination credit union and USO center earns LEED Silver
After the Army announced plans to expand Fort Bliss, in Texas, by up to 30,000 troops, FirstLight Federal Credit Union contracted NewGround (as CM) to build a new 16,000-sf facility, allocating 6,000 sf for a USO center with an Internet café, gaming stations, and theater.
| Jan 21, 2011
Sustainable history center exhibits Fort Ticonderoga’s storied past
Fort Ticonderoga, in Ticonderoga, N.Y., along Lake Champlain, dates to 1755 and was the site of battles in the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. The new $20.8 million, 15,000-sf Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center pays homage to the French magasin du Roi (the King’s warehouse) at the fort.
| Jan 21, 2011
GSA Recognizes the Best in Public Architecture
The U.S. General Services Administration recognized the best in public architecture and civilian federal workplaces at the 2010 GSA Design Awards in Washington, D.C. This year's 11 award winners showcase the federal government's commitment to cutting-edge architectural design and its focus on sustainability.
| Jan 19, 2011
New Fort Hood hospital will replace aging medical center
The Army Corps of Engineers selected London-based Balfour Beatty and St. Louis-based McCarthy to provide design-build services for the Fort Hood Replacement Hospital in Texas, a $503 million, 944,000-sf complex partially funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The firm plans to use BIM for the project, which will include outpatient clinics, an ambulance garage, a central utility plant, and three parking structures. Texas firms HKS Architects and Wingler & Sharp will participate as design partners. The project seeks LEED Gold.
| Jan 4, 2011
Product of the Week: Zinc cladding helps border crossing blend in with surroundings
Zinc panels provide natural-looking, durable cladding for an administrative building and toll canopies at the newly expanded Queenstown Plaza U.S.-Canada border crossing at the Niagara Gorge. Toronto’s Moriyama & Teshima Architects chose the zinc alloy panels for their ability to blend with the structures’ scenic surroundings, as well as for their low maintenance and sustainable qualities. The structures incorporate 14,000 sf of Rheinzink’s branded Angled Standing Seam and Reveal Panels in graphite gray.
| Jan 4, 2011
An official bargain, White House loses $79 million in property value
One of the most famous office buildings in the world—and the official the residence of the President of the United States—is now worth only $251.6 million. At the top of the housing boom, the 132-room complex was valued at $331.5 million (still sounds like a bargain), according to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace. That reflects a decline in property value of about 24%.