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Patients at a medical facility being designed by Peck Smiley Ettlin Architects could be upwards of 14,000 pounds, or less than one-inch-long. The new veterinary hospital and quarantine for the Oregon Zoo will be a breath of fresh air for animals and veterinarians alike.

The existing hospital has failing heating systems, poor lighting and concrete flooring that is abrasive to the zoo鈥檚 many hoofed animals.

鈥淰et facilities have advanced far beyond where ours is today,鈥� said Craig Stroud, budget and finance manager for the zoo. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no separated ventilation system to keep the human air from the animal air. The vets have difficulty sanitizing porous surfaces and moving animals in and out of the building.鈥�

After the zoo鈥檚 50-year-old hospital and quarantine facility was deemed unsatisfactory by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, an organization that inspects and accredits zoos based on standards for animal care, zoo staff worked with Metro on a $125 million bond measure to pay for facility improvements. The measure was passed by voters last year, and bond money will pay for the zoo鈥檚 new 19,000-square-foot facility.

Margot Monti, a certified veterinary technician who contributed input on the hospital鈥檚 design, is delighted.

鈥淲e鈥檙e basically in a modified office building right now,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l have a nice, new building built with different kinds of animals in mind and it will be easier for us to set up good accommodations for our animals.鈥�

Monti said the staff presently has to store its medical files in the same room as its laboratory; the new facility, however, will have separate rooms for research and medical records. Also, a 鈥榟oof stock鈥� room with rubberized flooring and padded walls will keep hoofed animals from wearing down their hoofs or injuring themselves if they are startled. Aquatic animals will have access to a large pool, as well as an indoor and outdoor holding area. A new quarantine area will give vets a larger and sturdier space for large primates and carnivores.

鈥淲e designed the new hospital to have good flow from room to room,鈥� Monti said. 鈥淭he lab is close to the main treatment areas, and surgery and X-ray are right there. We鈥檒l have easy access to our offices and an intensive care unit for animals we need to keep a closer eye on.鈥�

The new facility also may offer visitors closer looks at what goes on in a zoo hospital. Stroud said the zoo plans to have a space where school groups can enter and watch the animals as they undergo procedures via a closed-circuit-camera system.

This is the first veterinary hospital project for Peck Smiley Ettlin, which also designed the zoo鈥檚 Predators of the Serengeti exhibit and the Red Ape Reserve exhibit.

鈥淭here are actually a lot of similarities between human and animal hospitals,鈥� said architect Bob Thrapp of Peck Smiley Ettlin. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same equipment, but the design is not quite as intensive.鈥�

Thrapp said it wasn鈥檛 easy developing a design for the site, which is within the footprint of the existing quarantine building.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a really tight, sloped site,鈥� Thrapp said. 鈥淢aking sure that everything is integrated properly from an architectural and engineering standpoint has been a challenge.鈥�

Another challenge, according to Stroud, is the zoo鈥檚 plan for on-site storm-water recycling, which would use a tank and a pump to supply wash-down water for the animal cages. That water will then be recycled and reused on-site by filtering it to a level appropriate for cleaning animal cages. The on-site storm-water system will bring the project closer to achieving the LEED silver certification required by the zoo.

鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to be innovative in storm- and rainwater management,鈥� Stroud said. 鈥淭here may be issues with city code there because codes on certain sustainable practices are not yet well defined. We鈥檙e working closely with the city and our consulting engineers to figure it out.鈥�

The project is expected to go through the permitting process this month, and could go to bid as soon as January. Because the hospital will be built next to the current one, contractors will have to take into account the noise they make; no one wants to wake up a 200-pound black bear with a toothache.

鈥淎nimals are very sensitive to sounds and their environment,鈥� Stroud said. 鈥淭hose are some complicating factors that will have to be addressed during construction.鈥�

After bids are received, the zoo expects construction of the hospital to begin in March 2010.