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Best Friends Animal Society Gets a State-of-the-Art Space in NYC

05.23.17 | By
Best Friends Animal Society Gets a State-of-the-Art Space in NYC

RA-DA Architects recently gave the Best Friends Animal Society a brand-new, state-of-the-art adoption center in the middle of Manhattan, where they can help raise awareness and hopefully meet their goal of making the United States a no-kill country by 2025. The center will be a place where they can spread the word that around 5,500 dogs and cats are killed every single day in U.S. shelters. Hopefully, their new space will plant a seed for people to learn about the homeless pet population and encourage them to adopt.

The center was designed with gallery-style “homes” that will help educate the public about homeless pets and hopefully make you fall in love so you’ll take one home.

Overall, the design was inspired by Best Friends’ largest no-kill sanctuary in Southern Utah where there are slot canyons. They used a palette of warm colors and natural materials taken from the landscape of that Utah sanctuary. All of the materials are durable so they can easily be cleaned without having to worry about them being destroyed over time.

There’s a round-the-clock nursery where kittens are bottle-fed, a play space for cats, dog suites for sniff holes, play rooms and consultation spaces for potential adopters, and a digital media presence with interactive displays letting visitors connect to animals and rescue groups.

Photos by Ralf Strathmann.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.