Manhattan, NY The Bideawee organization, one of the nation’s first no-kill shelters, has moved its headquarters. Together with a team of architects, engineers, design consultants and contractors, Bideawee (Scottish for “stay a while”) converted a three-story brick and wood structure at 152 West 24th St. to a veterinary and housing facility for cats and dogs. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held August 1.
Formerly the site of a restaurant in the Chelsea neighborhood, the new facility is set between two taller residential buildings with an adjacent lot that will serve as a dog exercise area. Bideawee’s high standards for indoor air quality and veterinary medicine requirements, combined with the structure’s age, space constraints and neighborhood concerns, posed challenges for engineering design firm Lilker, an IMEG company, in transforming the space from hospitality to healthcare and animal residence.
Bideawee’s new 10,000 s/f headquarters house a complete medical facility, animal counseling and communal cat housing areas, dog suites, bathing and grooming facilities, a multipurpose room, and staff offices. The veterinary technology available on site - including an operating suite with medical gasses, HEPA air filtration and aseptic design, radiology, and airborne infection isolation rooms - requires complex building infrastructure and HVAC systems to run and to keep healthy air separate from “sick” air. Animal housing spaces, designed to exceed the Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ standards, provide fresh air to reduce odors and promote occupant health, adding to the mechanical load. Due to tight indoor space availability, systems and equipment needed to be located and fit onto the building’s narrow roof while maintaining fire department access. Further complicating matters, the low roof height and adjacency to taller residential buildings required noise control solutions for the mechanical equipment.
Lilker, an IMEG company, devised a custom, split system design, placing the louder equipment on top of the boiler in a fully enclosed acoustic structure and the remaining units on the main roof for accessibility. The system draws in 100% fresh air and exhausts all air without recirculation, while still meeting NYC’s Energy Conservation Code. Due to the tonnage of air conditioning required, the firm also provided commissioning services in compliance with city code. Even with Bideawee’s elevated operating standards, the building uses less energy than a typical same-size building, furthering the organization’s current pursuit of a Commercial, Version 4 LEED ID & C green building design rating.
The engineers also designed a back-up emergency power system beyond standard requirements to enable the facility to function fully, even under the most adverse conditions. To maintain outdoor space for the dog run, an emergency power connection point was installed; a temporary emergency generator can be trucked in and hooked up to the connection within hours.
“As animal lovers, we are thrilled to provide our furry friends with a safe, comfortable and special environment and a temporary home, of which we’re all very proud,” says Bruce Lilker, senior client executive with Lilker, an IMEG company.
Additional project requirements included full waterproofing of the exterior, fireproofing of the structure’s wood crossbeam, all new plumbing and sprinkling throughout, and special drains with flushing capabilities in the dog suites.
Lilker, an IMEG company, provided IT cabling, AV and security services and security systems, including TV monitors in the multipurpose and operating rooms, and security cameras in the dog run yard, animal residential suites and entries. The firm also conducted witness testing of all mechanical equipment, sprinkler systems, and civil and structural related requirements.
Project Team:
Client: Bideawee
Bideawee architect: Rauhaus Freedenfeld & Associates
Architect of Record: Ted Moudis Architects
Construction management: JLS
MEP, security and technology engineer: Lilker, an IMEG company
Civil engineer: Langan
Elevator consultant: VDA
Acoustics consultant: Shen Milsom & Wilke
Energy and Sustainability services/LEED consultant: Jones Lang Lasalle
Filing expediter: Milrose Consulting
General contractor: James E. Fitzgerald, Inc.
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