The new 13,245-sf Grapevine (Texas) Animal Services Shelter and Adoption Center stands as a vital hub for the local community. Committed to promoting pet adoptions and ensuring the welfare of animals, the shelter plays a pivotal role in adoptions, humane law enforcement, and wildlife concerns.
The shelter's mission centers on fostering a nurturing environment conducive to successful pet adoptions, and the staff had specific ideas about how the new center should look and function. The challenge for Quorum Architects in designing the new facility was to prioritize the health and comfort of the animals, uplift staff morale, and create an inviting atmosphere for visitors – all to encourage potential adopters to feel comfortable and engage with the animals, facilitating the adoption process.
Quorum Architects designed the facility to optimize not only its welcoming exterior presentation, but also its interior functionality, introducing specialized areas such as indoor cat condos, play yards for dogs, and a get-to-know courtyard where potential pet owners can bond with their future companions. A heated and ventilated drive-thru sally port ensures secure and comfortable animal delivery and transfer.
Inside, dedicated zones were established for offices, laundry, medical services, recovery areas, grooming spaces, and isolation/quarantine areas – all with the goald of catering to the diverse needs of the animals under care and the shelter's operational efficiency.
DAYLIGHTING FOR ANIMAL AND STAFF WELL-BEING
Recognizing the pivotal role of daylight in promoting animal and staff well-being, Grapevine Animal Services pursued a design strategy centered on infusing its interior spaces with abundant natural light. To do so, Quorum Architects collaborated with NTX Building Products, the local Solatube International distributor, to integrate nine units of SolaMaster 750 DS into the facility.
Solatube Tubular Daylighting Devices harvest daylight at the rooftop, transfer it down a highly reflective tube, and distribute it evenly into an interior space through a diffuser at the ceiling — on both sunny and cloudy days — without adding heat or cold into the interior space.
Unlike traditional skylights, Solatube TDDs are designed to be reconfigurable over time and to reduce glare and inconsistent light patterns while screening UV and infrared wavelengths that can fade finishes and overheat interiors.
Natural light plays a vital role both in enhancing the overall well-being of shelter animals and in creating a more favorable environment for successful adoptions. (See Heemstra, E.M. [2013], “Shedding a light on animal shelters: the use of light and its effect on the adoption process,” University of Twente.)
Daylight, when used as an interior source of lighting, has been shown to reinforce circadian rhythms, benefiting both the animals and the staff. It also boosts animals' mood by increasing serotonin levels thus reducing stress and anxiety commonly observed in shelter animals.
Reducing stress levels is pivotal as it enables animals to showcase their genuine personalities and engage more effectively with prospective adopters. Natural daylight has an inherent ability to enhance an animal's appeal by highlighting the coat's sheen, the sparkle in their eyes and an overall vibrant and healthy appearance.
The culmination of these benefits, coupled with the creation of a welcoming ambiance and a bright, inviting atmosphere, encourages potential adopters to engage more extensively with the animals, ultimately resulting in higher adoption rates.
SHELTER MANAGER CITES POSITIVE IMPACT OF DAYLIGHTING
"Prioritizing natural daylight with Solatube Tubular Daylighting Devices has significantly enhanced our new shelter and adoption center,” said Kristina Valentine, CAWA, Animal Services Manager, Grapevine Animal Services Shelter and Adoption Center. “The abundance of natural light has positively impacted our environment, reducing stress, improving moods, and fostering a healthier atmosphere for all. It's been transformative for our animals, staff and visitors alike."
Related Stories
| Jan 4, 2012
HDR to design North America’s first fully digital hospital
Humber River is the first hospital in North America to fully integrate and automate all of its processes; everything is done digitally.
| Jan 3, 2012
VDK Architects merges with Harley Ellis Devereaux
Harley Ellis Devereaux will relocate the employees in its current Berkeley, Calif., office to the new Oakland office location effective January 3, 2012.
| Dec 13, 2011
Lutron’s Commercial Experience Center awarded LEED Gold
LEED certification of the Lutron facility was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively impact the project itself and the broader community. These features include: optimization of energy performance through the use of lighting power, lighting controls and HVAC, plus the use of daylight.
| Dec 10, 2011
10 Great Solutions
The editors of Building Design+Construction present 10 “Great Solutions” that highlight innovative technology and products that can be used to address some of the many problems Building Teams face in their day-to-day work. Readers are encouraged to submit entries for Great Solutions; if we use yours, you’ll receive a $25 gift certificate. Look for more Great Solutions in 2012 at: www.bdcnetwork.com/greatsolutions/2012.
| Nov 18, 2011
Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability opens
Designed to exceed LEED Platinum, the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) is one of the most innovative and high performance buildings in North America today, demonstrating leading-edge green building design products, technologies, and systems.
| Oct 5, 2011
GREENBUILD 2011: Solar PV canopy system expanded for architectural market
Turnkey systems create an aesthetic architectural power plant.
| Mar 29, 2011
Chicago’s Willis Tower to become a vertical solar farm
Chicago’s iconic Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) is set to become a massive solar electric plant with the installation of a pilot solar electric glass project.
| Nov 3, 2010
Dining center cooks up LEED Platinum rating
Students at Bowling Green State University in Ohio will be eating in a new LEED Platinum multiuse dining center next fall. The 30,000-sf McDonald Dining Center will have a 700-seat main dining room, a quick-service restaurant, retail space, and multiple areas for students to gather inside and out, including a fire pit and several patios—one of them on the rooftop.
| Nov 2, 2010
Cypress Siding Helps Nature Center Look its Part
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.
