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Building Design for Animals
A Look Back: Oregon Zoo Veterinary Medical Center
The animals being treated in this facility aren’t your typical patients. Forget feisty housecats, the Oregon Zoo Veterinary Medical Center was designed to provide care to true Big Cats and other wild patients.
Back in 2012, BDA teamed with Peck Smiley Ettlin Architects, Inc. on the design of a new medical facility for the Oregon Zoo. BDA provided veterinary and animal handling consultation and design expertise for a 15,000 square foot facility which was built on the Zoo property.
This state-of-the-art medical center was designed to address comfort and healing for the wide variety of animals that the zoo veterinarians treat. These zoo patients come in all sizes, great and small, from reptiles to large mammals, and each has their own unique needs.
BDA’s efficient floor plan was designed to allow staff to diagnosis and treat animals with minimal movement of the animal. There are spacious and well-lit examination areas, a large treatment area, an imaging suite and surgical spaces, each designed and built with safety and comfort of the animals and staff in mind.
Rubberized flooring and padded walls protect hooved animals from injury, while heated floors, adjustable thermostats and water temperatures are used to maintain comfort levels of the variety of zoo patients.
There are also a large variety of housing units for the different animals. Birds, primates, carnivores, large animals and small, each have their own indoor and outdoor spaces, and aquatic species also have their own areas with temperature-controlled pools and holding areas to meet their needs.
Taking into consideration all of the varied species that zoo staff treat, BDA and PSE were able to provide the Oregon Zoo with a Veterinary Medical Center that was designed with strategies to keep animals calm, reduce stress and promote healing, all in support of both wellness and research.
Take a look at the Oregon Zoo’s website for more information on what went into the project, including how it was an upgrade on their old facility and the sustainability efforts that went into its construction.
Discover: Veterinary Medical Center
