Australian Design Review

The redeveloped RSPCA facility at East Burwood is a model of excellence in animal care, providing an exemplary experience for users and visitors. The first fully enclosed, naturally ventilated, and day-lit dog kennel building in the world, this project advances the cause of building sustainability and animal welfare by integrating ESD features to achieve high air changes and temperature control for the dogs’ comfort. Through strong branding and innovative architecture, the RSPCA is better serving the animals within its care by attracting more people to the site, promoting higher animal adoption rates, and providing education to facilitate informed animal adoption choices.
The RSPCA provides its full range of services from the Burwood Highway site, with the Stage 1 dog kennel building housing 200 quarantine dog kennels. The kennel building is made up of five east-west oriented wings containing 40 kennels each across two levels. These have been configured to minimise stress on the dogs by reducing visual and aural connection between dogs. Additionally, each dog has access to natural light and views to an outdoor area, unusual in an indoor facility. The project won both the Victorian and National awards in the Sustainable Architecture category of the 2008 RAIA awards.

Project Team Members: Barbara Bamford, Thuyai Chung, Peter Dredge, Lyndon Hayward, and Iain Walker