Veterinary

Receptions and Waiting Rooms

Your reception and waiting area is often the first impression clients have of your practice, making it an important extension of your brand and values.  

A well-designed reception desk can significantly improve day-to-day operations for your team. Drawing on experience from hundreds of veterinary projects, we understand the common challenges associated with reception design and how thoughtful planning can improve workflow and communication between teams. The result is a better experience for both staff and clients.

Beyond simply providing a place to wait, reception and waiting areas can also support client education, promote services, and reinforce your practice identity. We can design to accommodate all your needs. 

Consultation Rooms

With every project we complete we gain a better insight into what practices need from this important space. Our focus is on creating a great working environment, providing the room you need to attend to patients of all shapes and sizes.  

We also pride ourselves in understanding the philosophy behind the positioning of the vet, i.e. enabling you to keep eye contact with your client, but also allowing the space for your clients and their animals to move around and feel relaxed. 

Prep Area

The Prep Area is often the heart of a veterinary practice or hospital, connecting many vital clinical spaces. As a result, veterinary teams need to move freely and efficiently between departments, making careful consideration of circulation routes, equipment placement, and visibility essential in the design.

We base our designs around our clients’ requirements and bring in our own knowledge and expertise to create the best space possible.  

Operating Theatres

By recommending the latest in hygienic antibacterial wall claddings and LED lighting, we can design your theatre to the highest standard. We also like to include innovative aspects, such as pass through cupboards that allow easy transfer of equipment, and everything with easy-clean features, including corners and abutments.

We understand how air needs to flow and how many air changes your theatre needs to stay sterile and to meet the recommended standards.

We relish moving forward with our designs and we were even behind the first veterinary facility in the UK with laminar flow technology. Even where budgets don’t permit laminar flow, we encourage our vets to utilise heat reclaim units wherever possible, and we can explain how best to use these and achieve good results when heating and cooling any veterinary practice.

Imaging Facilities and Specialist Equipment

At ACD we have the specialist knowledge to install everything from specialist imaging equipment, such as CT and MRI scanners, to state-of-the-art hydrotherapy pools and water treadmills, into your build.

We have built many fully lead-lined rooms, including linear accelerator bunkers and facilities for nuclear scintigraphy, and are familiar with what needs to be done to meet RPA (Radiation Protection Authority) standards.

Find out more about our experience in this field on our Specialist Installations page.

Wards

Our knowledge of appropriate layouts, materials and finishes in relation to dog and cat wards is second to none. We understand the stresses and strains this room goes through and we can make sure your building is fit for purpose, as well as comfortable for your patients.  

Working with veterinary specialists has helped us refine our ideas about what the perfect cat ward needs to feature to meet ICC Gold Standards and create the best environment for feline patients. 

With regards to dogs, our experience has lead us to fully understand which materials to use, based on their durability, life expectancy, ability to keep clean and cost. We also understand the acoustic performances of these materials and can design a room which dampens any sounds, making it more enjoyable for the staff (and neighbours) and less stressful for the dogs. 

Equine

We have built several equine hospitals over the years and gained a lot of experience in this field. We understand the requirements for knock-down, movement and transportation during operations and for recovery.  

We have a vast amount of experience with regards to stabling, isolation and rehabilitation including exercise, lunging, ménage and trotting areas.