Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre

Blacktown Animal Rehoming Centre – in progress

Wawarawarry Country / Blacktown, NSW

Blacktown City Council commissioned Sam Crawford Architects to design the new $27M Blactown Animal Re-homing Centre (BARC); with an aim of exemplifying world’s best practice in animal welfare and adoption in a centre to service the whole Western Sydney region.

Sited on the edge of the Eastern Creek within the Western Sydney Parklands, and adjacent the Glendening industrial estate, BARC will sit lightly within the landscape. It is conceived of as a series of fingers or finger wharves, reaching out into the flood-plain of Eastern Creek to engage with the landscape.

SCA is working in close collaboration with Blacktown City Council and landscape architects JMD Design, to ensure that the building provides a high level of amenity for animals and humans; for staff and vistors.

A key challenge of the design of the Blacktown Animal Re-homing Centre is to change the public’s perception of animal shelters, often referred to as pounds, and in turn increase community acceptance and adoption of impounded animals.

The design is underpinned by research; including interstate and international study tours to ensure that the design is benchmarked against world’s best practice in animal welfare. The shelter balances the highly technical requirements of a veterinary surgery, disease control, on site power generation and water recycling, with the need for a robust, functional and beautiful building for people and companion animals.

Aboriginal people have lived in the area we now know as Western Sydney Parklands for at least 20,000 years. The people of the Western Cumberland Plain referred to themselves as the Darug. Those that lived in the Eastern Creek area were part of Wawarawarry clan. Evidence of their daily life, including stone tools, is found on the site of the Western Sydney Animal Rehoming Centre. The Wawarawarry made open campsites on higher ground with access to Eastern Creek, and moved with the seasons to take advantage of plentiful plants and animals in the region. The presence of the Darug and other Aboriginal people is reflected in the name of the City of Blacktown which now has the largest Aboriginal population in the NSW.

Published

ArchitectureAU September 4, 2017

Project Team

Sam Crawford, Gabrielle Pelletier, Benjamin Chan, Scott Rowland, Henry Foley, Christine Guan, Sofia Nay, Louisa Gee, Jarrod Ruchalski, Ken Warr, Imogene Tudor, Anna Paton.

Project Manager

Root Partnerships

Consultant Team

Landscape Architect – JMD Design
Aboriginal Heritage – AMBS
Arborist – Arterra
BCA Consultant – BMG
QS – Bylett & Associates
Flood – Catchment Simulation Solutions
Geotech Engineer – Douglas Partners
Services Engineers – DSC
Colour Consultant – Lymesmith
Accessibility Consultant – Morris Goding
Waste Consultant – MRA Consulting
Structural Engineer – Northrop consulting
Civil Engineer – Northrop Consulting
Fire Engineer – Olsson Fire & Risk
Contamination Consultant – Prensa
Acoustic Engineer – Rodney Stevens
Signage & Wayfinding – Urbanite
Traffic Engineer – TTPP
Section J Consultant – Aspire Sustainability
Third party approvals – Stowe Australia

Photo Renders

Wayne Finucane, Virtualvision

Client

Blacktown City Council