Case Study:
Franklin County Humane Society

caring for the area's homeless animals

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Seeing the New Shelter was an Incredible Thrill

Franklin County Humane Society (FCHS) is an independent 501c3 organization with the mission to "care for our area's homeless animals, to re-home as many animals as possible, and to improve animal welfare." FCHS is contracted by the City of Frankfort and the Franklin County Fiscal Court to provide animal control services to the community.

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Kerry Lowary serves as the Executive Director of FCHS and is supported by a staff that includes veterinarians and a variety of animal care workers. In addition to the staff, FCHS works with its active board of directors, volunteers, members, and sponsors to support the community.

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Sam Marcus was a board member who was very active throughout FCHS's building project. Sam shares, "The results of saving many animals, improving their quality of care, and providing an important services to my community was very rewarding. Seeing the new shelter come to fruition was an incredible thrill."

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50 Years and Countless Floods Later

Site location always impacts what is feasible and possible with any facility. Being located in a valley surrounded by woods, FCHS's previous location made the facility susceptible to floods - five building floods and countless groundwater floods to be exact!

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In 2016, the FCHS team decided it was time to acquire a new property and build a new shelter to support their mission of caring for animals.

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Animal Care Experts to Improve Design Decisions

Kerry and the FCHS team sent out a Request for Proposals for the new building. After selecting a local architecture firm, KNBA Architecture, the firm knew they needed the expertise of animal care building experts. The DLI team of animal care consultants, building system engineers, and interior designers joined in to support FCHS.

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The Design Learned Animal Care Advantage

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Making the Best Decisions for a New Facility

The FCHS team fully leveraged the Design Learned advantage throughout the building journey. A few notable ways DLI provided services include:

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• Worked collaboratively with staff and board members to ensure alignment throughout the building journey

• Brought their extensive knowledge of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to design and construction decisions

• Leveraged their comprehensive knowledge and relationships with animal care vendors to make recommendations for veterinary equipment and animal enclosures based on supply chain availability and limitations along with the knowledge required to review proposed substitutions (ex: navigating  building decisions during the COVID-19 pandemic)

• Partnered with third parties throughout the building journey, including the architect, contractors, and sub-consultants to coordinate design decisions before they become a problem in the construction

• Stayed engaged throughout the entire building journey, knowing that project timelines can vary vastly from months to years

 

From a board members perspective, Sam shares that the most valuable aspect of working with the Design Learned team was "learning about the importance of MEP [mechanical, electrical, plumbing] in the design, construction, and maintenance of an animal shelter and being able to rely on the expertise of DLI to make and implement the best decisions for the new facility."​

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About the Building: Every Journey is Unique

Site selection is a critical first step in the building journey and cam sometimes take a while to complete as properties come and go from the market. DLI supports clients at the site selection stage by providing recommendations, evaluations, and suggestions about whether it "makes sense" for a client to move forward with a purchase based on their specific animal care purposes.

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Providing Instrumental Insights for Building Decisions

Throughout the first few years of the building journey, FCHS identified multiple tentative properties. The DLI team evaluated and provided recommendations on three properties, including a former newspaper publishing facility along the way.

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As Sam share, "Scott's initial recommendations and subsequent report...were instrumental in the following planning process but also extremely helpful with fundraising for a new facility and justifying abandoning the current site as potentially viable... The work done by DLI demonstrated that retrofitting the existing facility would be more expensive than new construction at a preferred site. This was helpful to our request for funding from the local government at the new property."

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Next Up...Conceptual Design & Floor Planning

Once the site selection occurred, FCHS was ready to move forward with the Conceptual Design and Floor Planning phase.

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As a board member, Sam shares his experience during this phase, "This was a very intensive process. We went through a year of planning the design, floor plan, and programming for the new facility. There was much give and take between the committee members, Design Learned, and the architect. Throughout the process Design Learned was very cooperative and flexible, as well as a patient and instructive."

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Notable Features of the Animal Shelter

During this process there were several iterations of the design. Notable features of the FCHS shelter include:

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• Spacious areas for the dogs, including indoor areas and outdoor play yards

• Indoor/outdoor runs for staffing purposes

• Less stressful experience for dogs with fewer animals in each zone

• Privacy panels throughout the play yard area to ensure no visual stimuli or fence fighting

• A cat community room that connects to the open-air catio with unique, pet-proof screening

• State-of-the-art mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems for disease and odor control

• Full-service shelter medicine clinic

• Efficient and quality clinic layout that includes a surgery room, treatment area, radiology space, special procedures room, exam space, and animal holding areas

• Independent HVAC zones that separate different functional areas of the shelter

• Noise control and acoustical engineering throughout the entire facility

• Durable engineered systems to last well into the future

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Finally, Construction Administration

Construction for the facility began in 2022 and finished in 2023. Throughout the build, the DLI team delivered construction administration services. 

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The construction administration services available to DLI clients include:

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• Site visits throughout construction to review contractor work

• Submittal reviews of all equipment that goes into the building

• Coordination with animal care equipment vendors for pricing and installation

• RFI responses and addressing contractor questions during construction

• Assistance with final contractor punch list or outstanding/incorrect items that the contractor must address before completion of the project

• Mechanical commissioning assistance of HVAC equipment

• Attendance at the shelter grand opening

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Animal Shelters Design for Longevity

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An Outstanding Animal Welfare Facility

Design Learned is committed to positively impacting the lives of animals. When thinking of the impact of working with DLI, Sam shares, "The experience with Design Learned was exceptional. Scott and his team were instrumental in creating what turned out to be an outstanding animal welfare facility. I do not believe we would have had the proper materials, systems, and animal housing without Design Learned. Our meetings were productive and informative, cooperative, and collaborative. There is no wasted space in the facility, it meets all of our programming needs, and should provide longevity as well as limited maintenance expense. Our new shelter has already attracted statewide interest from entities wishing to provide better facilities for their animals."