For over 30 years, Alex Darvill has led a team in the veterinary and animal welfare sectors, helping veterinary professionals and animal welfare charities design and build their ideal animal care facility.
ACD Projects’ history spans veterinary practices, referral hospitals, equine facilities, animal shelters, kennels, catteries, and boarding facilities of every scale. We also design for unique operational requirements, including advanced equipment installations, veterinary education and training environments, and zoological enclosures.
Our History
In 1993, ACD Founder Alex Darvill was first introduced to the veterinary sector when he was appointed to work on the small animal wing at Cambridge University’s Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital, officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Later, Alex was appointed Project Manager for the Animal Health Trust’s Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Hospital at the Trust’s Lanwades Park campus, receiving a Gold Award in Category III of the National Building Manager of the Year Awards, and for the Trust’s Centre for Equine Studies, where Princess Anne laid the foundation stone.
Inspired by the specialist nature of veterinary and animal welfare projects, Alex chose to pursue a career focused on creating practical, purpose-designed facilities for practices and charities alike. Less than five years after his first project at Cambridge, he founded Agora Management with a clear vision to specialise in animal care environments.
Under Alex’s leadership, the business steadily expanded its expertise, services and reputation, later evolving into ACD Projects Ltd in 2013 – now recognised as the UK’s only multi-disciplinary building design and consultancy practice dedicated exclusively to veterinary and animal welfare projects.
To find out more about the ACD Projects team, visit our Meet the Team page, or get in touch to discuss how we could help with your project.
ACD Projects Today
Today, ACD Projects are the UK’s leading building design and consultancy specialists dedicated to the veterinary and animal welfare industry. With over 500 projects completed across more than 20 countries, we have the experience and knowledge to support projects of every size, budget and stage of development.
Having played a role in landmark developments such as the Animal Health Trust at Lanwades Park, we understand how thoughtful building design can help shape the future of veterinary care, education and animal welfare for generations to come.
Our award-winning team provides a complete range of services tailored specifically to animal care environments, including architecture, project management, quantity surveying, and mechanical and electrical design services. Whether you are renovating an existing facility, expanding your practice, or developing a new-build centre, we can support your project from initial concept through to completion, or assist at any stage in between.
Every project is important to us. We take pride in creating practical, purpose-designed facilities while building long-lasting relationships with our clients, many of whom return to us for future projects or recommend us through word of mouth within the veterinary and animal welfare community.
Learn more about us
Meet the Team
Meet the Team
How we work
How we work
Awards & Accreditations
Awards & Accreditations
Case studies
Case studies
Testimonials
Testimonials