The Dog House

Life with dogs…..3 of them.  As architects, we first realized that despite the fact that we had one TV, most of our clients had multiples, and we needed to remember to ask…..so where do you watch TV?

Now we realize that many people are opting to have dogs, as we do, as family members…. ersatz children….so what happens to the 4 bedroom 3 ½ bath house?  Functionally speaking, it is a dinosaur, no more appropriate for a dog family than a cage.

Right now I am sitting in our kitchen, dogs wandering about aimlessly but with intent…they are border collies after all.  The doors are open, the freshly cleaned floor is now dusty and nose wipe is dotting the windows of the French doors.

How do we, should we, and can we address this ever-increasing design program….Does architecture need to go to the dogs?

We think so….we have treated our dogs as extras in our family  play for too long. 

So how do we think about design “gone to the dogs”…how do they live, what is our relationship with them and what would we like it to be?

Kate and Abby/blur

Kate looking in

When we first started our practice 25 years ago, before the crash of 80 something, we had an attorney client who lived with his wife, but equally loved his dogs. We designed a large barn that was really a place that he could get away with the dogs…spend the night if he wanted to, watch TV(yes another TV) and give them a bath.  A comfortable place to hang out and just be a dog and be a dog friend…

Several years ago, I was approached by a potential client whose husband had wolves. Wolves are different than dogs, not real cuddly and they have an unusual odor, kind of wild…. The design program (how we approach a design problem or challenge is addressed in a “program”) called for a separate hose-able space with bathing but also space for hanging out with the wolves…with a relationship to the rest of the house.  The wolves individually were fine but when the group got together they became a pack and both smelly and inappropriate behavior could occur.  So, in addition, we needed to look at individual space and relationships to the wolf house and the main house…

These are more unique design problems but most of us do have pets/furry children.

So how do we design to address the basics; family dog/dogs…family cat/cats? Next week we will discuss dogs in detail and share some thoughts and brainstorm about space…