Title: FurKids: Cat Shelter
Location of Proejct: Cumming, GA
Project Completion Date: NA
Firm Name: BLUR Workshop

Short Description: This is a multifunction facility which serves as the main cat shelter and adoption space for FurKids which is the largest no kill animal shelter in the south eastern US. This building not only serves as the main adoption outlet but also includes a cat café, multifunction event/open adoption space and includes interactive educational components as well.

Architect's Statement: There were a number of challenges one of them being the required separation between various functions which had to result in a multi building form. To do this we essentially created 3 pitched roofs which were then connected by two flat roof portions as well as a unifying porch condition which stays at the same hight around the entire building. The second challenge was the integration of the exterior cat porches so as to not make then look like an exterior cat cage. We did this by designing them as a façade portion of the building therefore making them integral to the design from the beginning. This way the roof of the main building ties in and becomes the same roof over the cat porches. We followed the same design language on the cat café porch to help keep a unified look to the structure. The grand adoption room was the last challenge as the client wanted tall ceilings with exposed trusses with a lot of glass. To keep the project in budget we utilized a modified engineered truss which we clad on the front and back with 1X GA cypress. We used that same cypress all over the project for both the black wood siding and the natural wood on the exterior and on the interior.

This site is heavily wooded which we wanted to touch as little as possible. We started by choosing the most open portion of the site and arranging the building so the exterior connection pathways could meander through the nearby trees. The client wanted a building that would be as maintenance free as possible so we utilized thermo kiln dried wood which will never rot. This in conjunction to the standing seam metal roof the building will hardy enough to withstand its forest home.