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Building Design for Animals
Shenandoah Veterinary Hospital: Legacy Forward
Built for the future and designed to honor the past, the award-winning Shenandoah Veterinary Hospital combines a legacy of community commitment with a smarter, frictionless approach to patient care.
When a practice grows exponentially over three decades, the facility eventually becomes a bottleneck. For Shenandoah Veterinary Hospital in Martinsburg, West Virginia, the challenge wasn't just about needing more space—it was about honoring a 30-year legacy while pivoting toward the future.
BDA Architecture and CMP, Inc. partnered to bring this 8,094 SF primary care facility to life, ultimately earning a Merit Award in the 2011 Hospital Design Competition.
Strategic Site Solutions
Location is everything. The client was well-established on a State Route and didn't want to lose their visibility. Through a series of feasibility and topography studies, it was determined that the best path forward was building on the land the client already owned to the south.
By integrating the new construction with the existing site, the design-build team kept much of the original parking intact. We utilized a secondary access point for staff entry, ensuring that the main lot remained dedicated to a seamless experience for clients.
A Nod to the Past, Built for the Future
The client wanted the new hospital to feel like a natural evolution of their original building. BDA achieved this through a sophisticated palette of stone accents, cement-board siding, and a striking sloped roof.
Architectural Problem Solving: During construction, we discovered the original "signature green" siding had been discontinued. Rather than settling for a high-maintenance paint-match, BDA worked closely with the client to select a new pre-finished color. This pivot didn't just maintain the aesthetic; it significantly reduced future labor costs and long-term exterior maintenance for the practice.
Redefining the Client & Patient Experience
The heart of Shenandoah has always been its commitment to the community, but the new facility allows that care to reach new heights. For the new hospital we focused on removing the traditional 'friction points' of veterinary medicine—wait times, tech bottlenecks, and cramped quarters. The new footprint doesn't just offer more room; it offers a smarter way to practice medicine.
The facility features:
- The Power of 10: Moving from three to ten exam rooms allowed the doctors to see patients simultaneously, virtually eliminating wait times and showing the ultimate respect for the client’s schedule.
- Hospitality-First Design: A vaulted reception area with granite countertops and upholstered seating creates a calm, inviting atmosphere.
- Efficiency by Design: To support a paperless workflow, we integrated 25 computer workstations throughout the hospital, ensuring staff never face "logging bottlenecks."
- Medical Advancements: The increased footprint allowed for dental X-ray suites, additional lab analyzers, and lift tables in more rooms, directly elevating the standard of patient care.
The Design-Build Advantage
By utilizing the BDA and CMP design-build model, the transition from the old facility to the new 8,094 SF powerhouse was handled with surgical precision. The result is a hospital that doesn’t just look award-winning—it functions with the efficiency and grace required of a modern, high-volume veterinary practice.
