The CDCH is a re-homing centre for dogs, cats and small animals rescued by the RSPCA. The centre is run by an extraordinary group of volunteers and the whole scheme was funded through donations. The client’s intention was to create a unique facility that allows a holistic care approach to give the highest levels of care to the animals. The RSPCA publishes criteria for animal centres and the brief was to challenge these and exceed them wherever possible. We were engaged in 2010 to design a facility on the former farm site in Gloucestershire. Our initial response was to reject the standard approach of rows of caged animals that we had witnessed in other animal homes we had visited and create an inspiring environment for all. We developed the brief in detail with the client through a collaborative process that included input from animal behaviourists at the front of welfare research. The design focused on a radially dispersed layout of private and quiet unit groups for the animals, each looking out to the wider landscape on this open site. The animal spaces were all specifically designed to give the animals the appropriate areas and to be very low maintenance so that the team could spend more time engaging with the animals. The building is designed to be low energy and for low running costs and uses strategies of super-insulation, high thermal mass, grey-water recycling and foul waste treatment on site. The site as a whole has a landscape scheme that looks after the local ecology with enhanced wildlife features, from its meadow roof to the indigenous planting. The planting also includes a design for areas where animals can self-select medicinal plants, and the scheme includes a natural pool where animals can swim in the exercise area. The client recently referred to the working finished building: “An inspiring building makes a motivated, passionate and happy team delivering exceptional animal welfare.”