OC Animal Care officially opened to the public on Saturday March 24th, 2018. The facility is now serving the animals, and educating the citizens of fourteen surrounding cities and communities. Adoptions from the facility began on Sunday March 25th.
The rfa team was delighted to be in attendance at the grand opening. The excitement and positivity was evident among the public, staff and key personnel. The Shelter Staff were enthusiastic about the new features and amenities in the state-of-the-art building.
Balloons line the entrance at the Grand Opening of Orange County Animal Care Facility on March 24th, 2018.
rfa’s design includes 53,000 SF on the 7-acre campus. The campus includes seven buildings, ample parking, corrals, service areas and a variety of exercise yards creating a dynamic, park-like setting. The campus incorporates flexible indoor and outdoor spaces including a curved, tree lined promenade to encourage public exploration and secure nurturing interaction between visitors, staff and animals.
The Principals and Associates of RFA’s team attended the Grand Opening. The team witnessed rfa’s design come to life at the new facility as adoptable animals and the public explored the new facility. L to R: Principal Architects; Warren Freedenfeld, AIA & Rich Rauh, AIA with Associate Supervising Architect, Eric Nelson, AIA and Associate Marketing Director, Kimberly Henshaw.
The 36,000 SF, two-story main building, houses a state-of-the-art Veterinary Clinic, cattery, public meeting spaces, and field services. In addition, this building houses a variety of administrative departments and serves as a main welcoming gateway to the OC Animal Care campus. Feline areas accommodate 192 cats featuring outdoor Catios and stimulating, sun-filled Communal Cat Play Rooms. Canine Kennel Pavilions along the Promenade are designed to flexibly accommodate a diverse population of 200 dogs, showcase unique residents and create quiet opportunities for bonding. The dog population is housed in indoor/outdoor temperature-controlled kennels. The dogs will have access to multiple dog exercise yards and will be able to become acquainted with potential adoptees.
The new cat and kitten residents of OCACF will have special areas to climb, jump, rest and stretch.
rfa worked extensively with OCACF staff, animal welfare specialists and members of the renowned UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine to meticulously craft every aspect of this facility. This project was a design-build project delivery method with Snyder Langston as the Contractor. The project was approved in April 2016 and construction began in August 2016.
The facility includes state-of-the-art Veterinary Clinic and treatment areas.
The resulting design, has gone well beyond providing animal health and welfare in a secure, sustainable, durable facility, we hope this facility assists the community in establishing a new forward-thinking standard in municipal animal care. We wish the Orange County Animal Care Facility immense success with their new facility and were delighted to have been a contributor to this important and inspirational community project.
Additional News and Press on the OCACF:
Abc 7 – Tustin opening state-of-the-art animal shelter
OC Register – Tails are wagging at Orange County’s larger, up-to-date animal shelter
OC – Breeze – New OC Animal Care facility ribbon-cutting on Wednesday, March 7, 2018
San Clemente Times – Bartlett Bulletin: A New Shelter and New Era for Animal Care in Orange County
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