Central Animal Hospital had long-since outgrown its existing facility. The practice owned nearly an acre of land behind their existing property, on which it had planned to build a new facility, converting the original building into boarding and grooming only. The L-shaped site and programmatic requirements predicated the siting of the new facility: set back 200 feet from a busy street, screened from the street by local businesses. The challenge, therefore, was to give the new facility a visual presence, while providing a safe and comfortable environment for the animals.

Site planning was approached as a campus: utilizing an enclosed exterior connector between the existing structure and the new hospital to link the two structures physically and visually from the street. Bright colors compliment a simple silhouette and material palette, used to embolden the street façade and draw one’s view deeper into the site. The exterior form is a direct response to site conditions: a deep overhang on the south side protects both the entry and the wall of glazing adjacent to the exam rooms. The ceiling of the reception area is lofted to incorporate a bank of clerestory glazing to fill the space with northern light. Soft light and ample views are indicative of the interiors, which are simply organized around a core of exam rooms. The core acts as a mediator between the patient zone and the doctor zone, providing a clear organization structure for patients to navigate.