FINAL - JDDK Millmount News Summer Edition 2025 DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 20
T H E D E L I V E RY
Enhancing staff wellbeing for boosted retention
We also place a huge emphasis on psychological comfort for
staff welfare. Veterinary work is emotionally and physically
demanding, and a well-designed practice or hospital should
provide dedicated spaces where staff can work quietly
or recharge. We incorporate break rooms, private of昀椀ces,
con昀椀dential meeting or telephone space, often using biophilic
design principles proven to enhance wellbeing. Some of our
most forward-thinking clients are now investing in wellness
areas for their teams, recognising that burnout is a real
challenge in the industry. Creating thoughtful, comfortable
staff spaces make a tangible difference to the long-term
success of a practice.
Another crucial element is capacity planning for specialist
machinery. Veterinary practices and referral hospitals in
particular, require highly speci昀椀c equipment, which needs to
be factored into the spatial layout and infrastructure. This
ensures there is adequate space for 昀椀tting out, in use and
for maintenance, power supply, and ventilation to support
them. This is particularly important in referral hospitals, where
advanced diagnostic, imaging and surgical capabilities must
be seamlessly integrated without disrupting the overall 昀氀ow
of the practice.
When we took on a new facility project for DWR, we worked
closely with their team, to re昀椀ne how we approach these
challenges. They shared their expertise in veterinary work昀氀ows
to inform our approach to space planning, equipment
placement, staff circulation, and patient movement, ensuring
that our designs meet the highest standards for both ef昀椀ciency
and care.
Wear Referrals Veterinary Hospital in Bradbury, Co Durham
Design in practice: DWR Veterinary Specialists Referral
Centre, Cambridge
JDDK Architects were appointed to design the 昀椀tout of a brand new
2500msq “shell” building, on the site of the well-established DWR
veterinary referral hospital.
This project began by working closely with the hospital Director and
individual staff members to develop a comprehensive design brief and
schedule of accommodation.
Design proposals for how the required spaces would be laid out
within the building were developed, incorporating feedback from the
client at every design stage. Core design principles were followed e.g.
separation of clients from patient and medical areas; separation of cats
and dogs (DWR have been awarded Gold-level cat-friendly clinic (CFC)
accreditation by the International Society of Feline Medicine (ISFM));
昀氀ow of patients between key medical and diagnostic spaces; variation
of spaces for colleagues to work in and meet; design for colleague wellbeing.
Vets for Pets, Washington
JDDK also lead the design team in the technical delivery stages of
the project, producing fully coordinated and highly detailed design
information for the construction of these state-of-the-art facilities.
DWR Veterinary Specialists is now one of the largest specialist multidisciplinary veterinary referral centres in Europe.
20 Millmount. Summer 2025.
