Pet Resource Center

As the first building of its kind, the Pet Resource Center is a revolution in the animal care industry. With kennels and cages intentionally omitted, it’s function is similar in many ways to an animal shelter, but its fundamental philosophy is the polar opposite.

LONG TERM GOAL

Best Friends Animal Society has a goal of No-Kill by 2025. To achieve this, they are working with shelters, rescues, and communities and using a deep knowledge and analysis of data to rehome animals and stop the killing of unwanted pets.

After 150 years of shelters that are modelled on short term stays, we are changing that paradigm. Animals visibly decay in health and behavior when kept in cages and kennels. Best Friends have developed a better and smarter way.

During Covid many shelters were shut down and as a result, a large network of foster parents emerged. Best Friends capitalized on this and halfway through design, we decided that the kennels had to go: The goal was to build a shelter of the future:

People need a place where they can connect with animals in a setting that is un-institutional. This was going to be different, and the building would be a model for Cities and Counties Country-wide, and even world-wide.

A CUSTOMIZED PROGRAM

This meant a different approach to the design of the building. We had to rethink the purpose, the flow and the program. This Center needed to be community-focused, inclusive, and welcoming. We needed to pull the public into the world of Best Friends and get them involved, either to donate, volunteer, adopt or foster. It needed to support its affiliated rescues, foster parents, and the animals. It needed to provide adequate medical care and spay and neuter services. It needed to educate on all aspects of animal care including dog behavior or kitten feeding. It would even provide a community pantry for parents that were in need. The spaces are designed around these functions and creatively support these aspirations.