• W Rowell Chase Animal Hospital

W. Rowell Chase Animal Hospital
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

This two-story facility serves as the Zoo’s animal medical facility. The twelve-thousand square foot building includes offices for the Zoo's veterinary staff, a medical / surgical suite, necropsy suite, research and nutrition laboratories, and animal holding for small to medium size animals. A windowed nursery allows Zoo visitors to view newborn animals from outside of the building. The Zoo's original hospital was converted into a quarantine facility.

The building is organized around an entrance courtyard that provides a quiet, private outdoor area for staff to interact with staff from the adjacent CREW science facility. Expansive glazing facing this courtyard provides abundant natural lighting to interior spaces. Interior glazing provides views into these spaces from the lobby while affording acoustic privacy to the staff.

Situated on a steep site, the upper floor is connected to a clean dock for animal transfer into the medical suite. The lower floor is connected to the dirty dock, necropsy suite, crematorium and animal holding. An open stair and hospital-size elevator connects the two floors.

The medical suite contains a state of the art Quantum digital veterinary X-ray system. The necropsy station includes Mopec autopsy sink and bariatric cart. A floor scale in the clean dock has a 6,000 lbs capacity. The holding facility is designed to handle up to okapi-sized animals.