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Tina's Hospital For Dogs
DF&A was enchanted by the story of Tina, a golden retriever rescued from a hard life on the streets of Ko Samui, Thailand, and of Niall Harbison, the man who dedicated his life to saving her and street dogs like her in Thailand and beyond. Like so many around the world, the staff of this dog-loving office was moved by the sight of suffering dogs, and by Niall's journey from lost soul to man with a purpose. When Danny Forster read of Tina's death and of Niall's determination to build Tina's Hospital for Dogs Who Aren't Doing So Good, he offered DF&A's architectural design services. Niall — and Happy Doggo, his nonprofit organization — happily accepted.
It's not a simple brief. Tina's Hospital for Dogs abuts the Happy Doggo Land dog sanctuary, on the island of Ko Samui, but must remain separate to keep the healthy dogs healthy. And in addition to serving street dogs in need of medical care, the hospital will be a visitors center for well-wishers who are curious about Happy Doggo and want to support the work. The design must therefore keep visitors from spooking the dogs and compromising their recovery while at the same time giving them a real sense of connection to the place and its mission.
Our solution includes separate entrances for patients and visitors, and from there, separate routes entirely. Visitors follow a path between the rooflines and across the roof, pausing to view the sanctuary and Tina's grave from above, moving through an area for rest and reflection, and ending at an exhibit and information center, where they can learn more and join the cause.
Meanwhile, patients enter the hospital proper: a carefully programmed series of spaces, including reception and waiting room, exam rooms, x ray rooms, operating rooms, kennel, and, at a remove, a quarantine area. The hospital can serve up to 15 dogs at a time.
Happy Doggo and Tina's Hospital are donation-based endeavors, so Niall and Danny were both determined to use affordable and easily available materials like corrugated steel, poured concrete, and CMUs. The hospital should be elegant, in honor of Tina — but to build on her legacy, it should be as economical as possible. Dollars saved in construction equal dogs saved from the streets, simple as that.
Although the objects of our daily life can be rich in history and meaning, they rarely command our attention. The Budapest Museum of Ethnography designed by DF&A celebrates those very objects, while itself becoming a well-loved part of daily life. One of our favorite elements of the design is a visible storage tower called a Cabinet of Curiosities, a heightened version of the cabinets in our homes that are stuffed with treasures. From inside the museum, the Cabinet allows visitors to appreciate artifacts in their uncurated state, as a kind of beloved jumble. From outside the museum, the Cabinet of Curiosities extends beyond the street-side facade, both a symbol of critical inquiry and an object of curiosity itself.
When entrusted with bringing a world-class resort to the Shinnecock Nation land on Long Island’s Peconic Bay, DF&A knew that our first job was to respect the integrity of the land and the legacy of the people, on a site that has formed the fabric of the Shinnecock Nation identity for thousands of years. We designed the 20-acre, 13-building complex in collaboration with the tribe, in a way that complements the land’s natural beauty while leaving as much as possible in a natural state. We grouped the buildings—including a convention hall, recreation space, wellness center, longhouse, and residences—close together to preserve open space, but we insisted that every building we designed enhance rather than diminish the landscape. The resulting Resort at Westwoods is designed to be a source of cultural pride for the Shinnecock Nation and an expression of the tribe’s renowned hospitality. A modern manifestation of the Shinnecock Powwow, it celebrates the tribe’s traditions and values while welcoming visitors from around the world.
Designing the Seychelles Islands Center began almost as a philosophical conundrum: How do you create a visitors center for a place people cannot visit? The people of Mahé in the Seychelles Islands are the custodians of a remote natural wonder located 750 miles away: the island atoll of Aldabra. Few humans are allowed to go there, since they would pose a threat to the delicate ecology. Our task was to create a visitor center to help them imagine Aldabra, even experience it, in some tangential way.
