Overview

Founded in 1891, Dogs Trust is the largest dog welfare charity in the UK . Their mission is “to bring about the day when all dogs can enjoy a happy life, free from the threat of unnecessary destruction”.

The design brief for this specific project was to link up 37 kennels (pods) that were exposed to the elements with a covered walkway system, providing dry space for visitors to the Centre to view the dogs in the kennels. Dogs Trust also wanted to create a large central covered gathering area with a Wow! factor.

The pods were set on a slope and the building landscape is complex. Here at Fabric Architecture, we proposed a large 18m x 10m Double Conic structure for the central gathering spot and a highly bespoke/modified version of one of our Signature Structures, The Hull, to serve as the model for walkway canopies.

To achieve this, our in-house engineers had to start from square one and factor in weather conditions specific to West Calder (high levels of local rain, wind and snow loads required to be defined). Then we had to study the slope of the site. Because all of the canopies are inter-linked the patterning, finite element analysis and form finding for the canopies had to be exact.
 
Rainwater runoff had to be considered and hoppers were integrated throughout the canopies to keep the space and surrounding area dry. At the end of the day, we installed over 1,000 sqm of canopies creating architecturally beautiful and functional covered walkways and meet and greet space for Dogs Trust.

Client: Dog’s Trust
Engineer: Fabric Architecture