Cat Depot

Size: +/-11,000 sf

Location: Sarasota, FL

Type: Ground Up Renovation

Contractor: Beyond Design Contracting

Cat Depot is a progressive example of a specific-use renovation. The project expanded a 7,000 SF warehouse into an 11,000 SF free-roaming, no-kill, no-declaw cat shelter. The objective was to improve adoption rates through strategic design. Schimberg Group accomplished that handily by creating an energetic, happy atmosphere in a super-clean space with many opportunities for interactions between people and cats. 


To ensure the interior would be inviting and upbeat, the designers used bold primary colors against a background of black and white and built unusually high quality living conditions to provide the most opportunities for cat socialization and adoption. The floor plan creates never-before-seen free-roaming ‘pods’ for 10 to 15 cats with outdoor ‘cat porches’ for fresh air and pedestrian mingling. All shelving and cat ‘homes’ were made by Specrite and custom designed by Schimberg Group out of a maintenance-free material called Trespa.

Sustainable design elements were incorporated such as natural day lighting using CPI panels, efficient HVAC systems and low VOC paints. The combination of mixing contemporary lines with raw, industrial materials allows the building to settle into its environment nicely. It is a welcoming home for both felines and animal lovers in an urban, industrial neighborhood.

"A cat adoption center is not exactly a typical building type. Schimberg Group embraced the uniqueness of the project and with impeccable attention to detail and focus on the need to create the absolute most appropriate environment for the cats, they designed and completed our state of the art building. I highly recommend using them for similar projects related to animals and specifically felines."


–Ken Slavin, owner

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