Architect designing animal shelter to make pets and humans happy

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Rendering courtesy of Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects

Plans for a new animal shelter in Placer County include reducing stress for animals, and in turn, to make people looking to adopt them more comfortable.

Ben van der Meer

Staff Writer- Sacramento Business Journal

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To make a new animal shelter for Placer County successful, architect Jason A. Silva is taking his cues from the experts: The dogs and cats that will call it home, at least temporarily.

Silva, of Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects, said the goal is to make the shelter a place animals feel comfortable. In turn, that makes their two-legged counterparts more comfortable — and more likely to adopt them, he said.

"It's a unique building type that's halfway between a shelter and a hospital," Silva said. The shelter is a 29,500-square-foot design-build project his firm is doing with Unger Construction and Animal Arts, a Colorado firm specializing in animal shelters.

The building has to have space for new animals to be isolated while they are evaluated for behavioral or health problems, he said. And it has to be laid out so that someone walking an excitable dog can avoid someone else carrying a high-strung cat — lest a bad comedy break out.

Silva said a major goal of the design is reducing stress for animals. Ceiling tiles that absorb sounds, particularly barks, is one strategy.

Other features that reduce animal stress are outdoor spaces, particularly for dogs, and windows that are aligned north and south to reduce direct sun glare.

"The stress of an animal is tied to success in finding a new home," said Silva, who's trained dogs before. A similar approach for Sacramento County's shelter helped boost adoptions there, he added.

But other features in a shelter are made with humans in mind. Leaner government budgets mean shelters may be cleaned less often and need high-pressure treatments when they are. By building with a structural glazed tile that holds up under high pressure, Silva said, the shelter can have a 50-year lifespan.

Ben van der Meer covers real estate, development, construction, transportation and the business of sports for the Sacramento Business Journal.