Architects Beazley Moliere has won a design award for the Lafayette Animal Shelter and Care Center from AIA Louisiana.
The firm's award of Merit was announced at the state convention last weekend and they were the only Lafayette based firm to win a state level award this year.
Here's the description from the Award announcement:
The Animal Shelter needed a larger updated facility in order to provide better living conditions for animals, as well as a better experience for the general public.
The warm and inviting Adoption Lobby creates a positive first impression which had been shown to increase animal adoptions. A 450 square-foot Education Center allows the shelter to host public training events and better educate the public on animal care.
The new shelter not only holds more animals, but their housing areas are larger, have more natural light, and are easier to clean and maintain. The larger clinical areas with access to natural light allow for improved veterinary care. The site has multiple exercise yards and play areas for the animals as well as a landscaped retention pond surrounded by a walking path.
Potential adopters can take dogs on a walk and get to know them before they take them home. The pond area is open to the general public and thereby doubles as a community park for local residents. The campus has two buildings separated by short covered walks.
The main building in front houses the Cat Condos, Lobby, Education Center, Clinical Areas, and Offices while the rear building houses all of the Dog Dorms.
The Dog Dorms and Cat Condos lay out in such a way that the public can safely wander through them without staff present. This allows the shelter to operate more efficiently and reduces wait times for people interested in adopting animals.
Here's the list of winners.
The project was competing against projects all over the country that were designed by Louisiana Chapter members.
Here are the requirements:
“To encourage excellence in architecture, the Louisiana Chapter of the American Institute of Architects conducts an annual Awards Program. Through this program, AIA Louisiana seeks to honor works of distinction by its members and bring to public attention outstanding examples of architecture.
"Any architectural project completed within the last 5 calendar years (January 2017) which has been produced by, or in collaboration with, a member firm of AIA Louisiana is eligible for submission. Projects may be located outside of Louisiana but must be submitted by an AIA Louisiana member who served as either the Design Architect or the Architect-of-Record for the project. Members are encouraged to submit previously submitted non-winning projects, or ones that have won awards in other programs.”
