Design challenges traditional animal shelters
Copenhagen firm WE Architecture has completed a proposal for a “Dog Center” in Moscow that challenges traditional notions of animal shelters.
Copenhagen firm WE Architecture has completed a proposal for a “Dog Center” in Moscow that challenges traditional notions of animal shelters. Nestled in the countryside, the one-story pavilion will rely on a series of courtyards divided by pergolas that disappear into the landscape. The firm notes that the courtyards, which provide enclosed outdoor space for the dogs, allow the center “to avoid the 'jail-like' fencing which is often associated with dog shelters."
The entrance to the dog shelter.
WE, in collaboration with MASU Planning hopes to create a “healthy and inspiring environment for sheltered dogs and for the different people who will visit and work at the Center.” The project accomplishes its atmospheric goals by complimenting steel pillars with wooden rafters. The rafters extend to create an exterior overhang which functions as “a sun screen in summer time and as an exterior cover/hallway on rainy days.” As visitors approach the building, the green roof, which sits atop the wooden rafters, is meant to serve as a “fifth facade” that can blend in easily with its wooded surroundings. Extensive outdoor seating space bleeds into greenery, inviting both human and animal recreation.
The dog shelter is nestled in a forest setting
Architects
WE Architecture
Design Team
Marc Jay, Julie Schmidt-Nielsen, Simon Skriver, Ieva Vysniauskaite, Antonina Salmina, Marek Harnol, Thea Gasseholm, Corrado Galasso, Cristina Batista Flores, Eleonora Giovannardi, Barbara Drud Henningsen, Alexandru Pavel, Alicja Szczęśniak, Jeppe Kiib, Beatrice Fanfani
Area
1430.0 m2
Project Year
2018
Photographs
Courtesy of WE Architecture
Architects
We Architecture
News via: WE Architecture