The Cat Doctors

Location:                         Caulfield South

Building Type:                Veterinary Clinic

Status:                              Completed

Builder:                             Constructive Group

Photographer:               Rory Gardiner

The Project Brief

The Cat Clinic is a feline-only vet hospital in Caulfield South for an established practice with a unique vision for specialised veterinary care.

Our client approached us with the aim of building one of Australia’s premiere vet hospitals. A legacy project for their business, future-proofed for the coming decades.

The client’s existing clinic, a repurposed terrace house in Prahran, had served them well for 20 years but was tired and bursting at the seams. Our client envisioned a new phase of their business to expand their offering and meet growing demand.

Context and Feasibility

The site for the project had an existing single storey brick house with parking at the rear that until recently, served as a medical clinic. On a busy road with a sensitive residential interface, the site had some challenges, but generally represented a good development opportunity.

Initial feasibility tests quickly determined the existing house was not suitable for the scale of the development, and a new two-storey building was required to meet the brief.

Furthermore, to optimise clinical area for a large practice the best arrangement was found to elevate the entire clinical zone to the first floor, with entry, garden, staff facilities, carparking, and ancillary spaces occupying the ground level. The outcome is a facility that is at least two to three times the area of the clients existing practice despite the relative constraints of the single lot site.

Design Intent

Veterinary clinics can often seem cold, clinical, and without many windows or external aspect. We wanted to find a way to improve this so the architectural concept prioritised natural light, warm materials, landscape views, and an inviting atmosphere.

The entry foyer and reception are separated from the clinical and staff areas by a full height courtyard. This simultaneously separates the public and private domains of the building whilst also providing calming garden views and permitting daylight deep into the building.

The elevated first floor clinical spaces were conceptually thought of as a glass box that rests lightly on the ground floor walls. To enhance this concept the front of the building, as it meets the street, has a large cantilever that angles up at the tip. This gesture softens the carpark interface and creates a sense of entry for pedestrians approaching the building. The ground floor materials of honed blockwork and angled steel columns act like anchors to the cantilevering first floor.

We worked hard to ensure all spaces had access to natural light and external views. A particular focus were the consult rooms - typically dark and internal rooms in many clinics - we inverted the approach so these rooms were on the outside of the building with views to the street tree canopy. This was a key gesture in the project, providing a light-filled and enjoyable space for staff and customers alike.

With a variety of clinical spaces, each with their own functional demands, we added a vertical batten screen around the entirety of the first-floor glazed facade. This assisted to control privacy, reduce heat gain in summer, and add a warm and natural aesthetic to the façade without compromising the internal function.

Specialised Design for Feline Care:

Our client’s extensive veterinary experience led to detailed discussions on the needs of a feline-focused practice. Compared to general veterinary, feline care is typically more nuanced. Patients are sensitive to sensory stimulation like loud noises and open spaces, and with smaller animals comes a finer approach to treatment and patient interaction.  We worked within these parameters to design spaces that suited smaller medical equipment, closer interactions between staff and patients, and robust bespoke joinery and benchtops.

The first-floor clinical plan also allows for future adaptability, with several internal walls designed as non-load bearing. Additional foundations were also included at ground level for future expansion including allowance for heavy specialist equipment like a CT scanner.