The complex is structured in three interconnecting buildings, which create three different areas:
- The second building is the biggest, projected on existing topography is a two-storey volume. There are forty-one dog kennels on the upper floor, separated from the central corridor by a small garden so the animals opposite each other can’t have direct visual contact. A spiral staircase takes you down to the ground floor, where there is a multipurpose space, a services room, laundry and dressing room and a bathroom for employees.
- The third volume is the smallest of the three buildings, and is reserved for the cats.
Project description by Raulino Silva Arquitecto
The Canine & Feline Hotel is located in Parada, Vila do Conde and the main program consists of temporary dog and cat accommodation, a hotel where the animals stay for a few days, during holidays or professional travel of their owners. The remaining program is a complement to the space’s activity, with a veterinary office, a grooming room, outdoor training areas and a swimming pool for pets.
The program is distributed over three buildings that are interconnected, allowing to create three different areas. This way we got to separate the cat zone from the dog zone, avoiding the meeting of both and reducing the animal noises. In another building we find all the public service spaces.
In combination with the programmatic layout needs, the three volumes were designed to reduce the impact of the construction area in order to improve its landscape integration.
The first volume, with only one floor, corresponds to the reception and support area, with service desk, a small shop, a storage room, the sanitary facilities, an office, a veterinary’s office and a grooming room.
The second volume is the biggest one and takes advantage of the existing topographic for the creation of two floors, functioning as a link between the highest part of the terrain (the entrance area) and the lower part (the playground for the animals). Upstairs we have forty-one dogs’ shelter separated by the central corridor with a small garden to obstruct the eye contact of the animals facing each other. In the lower floor, with a spiral staircase access, we have a multipurpose space, a technical room, a laundry room and a locker room and bathroom for employees.
The third volume corresponds to the cats’ shelter, is the smallest one and has twelve independent accommodation spaces, with a central space of circulation around an interior garden that serves as a playground area for cats and is lit by a large skylight.
About the house finishing’s, the outside walls and ceilings are covered in ETICS system whit light grey color and thermal insulation on all surfaces. In the roof are used bitumen sheet membranes, thermal insulation and protection by natural pebble stone. On the balconies and in the car parking area of visitors is used dark grey concrete flooring. On the access route to the basement floor (loading and unloading services) is used region's granite cube.
Inside, the floor of all spaces is continuous and waterproof, with the application of self-leveling epoxy floor. On the walls of the bathrooms, in the changing rooms, on the stairs and in the interior garden of the dog building is used a single light grey microcement coating. The doors and cabinets carpentry are made with white lacquered MDF.
Outside, the granite stone walls were cleaned and preserved, keeping the same old construction method. In the fence of the dog training camps are used granite posts to secure the fence nets. These granite posts already existed on the ground, and were used in the vineyard near the walls of the planting field.
