Smith Architects Completes New Petco Center Project

SAN DIEGO— Smith Consulting Architects , a San Diego-based full-service design firm, has completed the site planning, shell redesign and interior design for the new Petco San Diego National Support Center, located at 10850 Via Frontera in the Rancho Bernardo area of San Diego.

The Petco interior features departments arranged like neighborhoods and indoor park-like spaces.

Whiting Turner , general contractor for the project, began construction in mid-July of 2014 and recently completed the nearly 300,000-square-foot, two-level facility, 63,000 square feet of which is on a level below existing grade. Petco’s senior VP of cupply chain, Mark Hilborn , provided oversight of the project, with Mike Rosen , director of corporate facilities & services, as the on-site project manager. Smith Consulting Architects developed an “Industrial Urban Park” design theme—essentially an urban park environment within an existing industrial building—where employees and their pets can coexist in a comfortable, productive environment. The primary structural steel frame of the 1981 vintage building was, for the most part, retained and the exterior was clad with a glass and metal panel curtainwall system. The east and west entries into the building are well defined with red metal panels above the doors, creating an interesting contrast to the curtain wall system. A 28-foot-high, perforated stainless steel screen integrating Petco’s logo, including dog and cat “Ruff” and “Mews,” highlights the entry while providing a prominent branding element. The entry lobby, with a suspended wood blade ceiling and adjacent coffee kiosk, opens into a large atrium or “community park” that extends from the lower level to a height of more than 45 feet, created by removing and replacing the building structure in this area. Opposite the lobby in this atrium are terraces that function for informal meetings, dining or large company events. A large video wall sits opposite the terraces, with a bridge crossing the atrium at the main level connecting the east and west sides of the building. The “community park” is furnished with diffused daylight from a translucent panel skylight system. “The football field-sized, centrally located atrium allows daylight to filter into the upper and lower floors and serves as a community area that can be used for many different purposes, much like a park would,” said Scott Cairns , vice president-in-charge for Smith Consulting Architects. “The bridge across the atrium, as well as elements and materials found in outdoor spaces, are carried through the interior, creating continuity of the industrial urban park theme throughout the property.” The large floor plate created a circulation challenge, which was addressed with a network of diagonal paths. Also essential to the large floorplate is the introduction of natural light. The translucent panels in the atrium, in conjunction with the exterior curtainwall system and the numerous skylights over the office area, maximize natural daylight, which is good not only for employees’ health and productivity, but also their pets’ wellbeing. The exterior provides a diversity of settings ranging from an outdoor dining area to natural sitting areas, a basketball court, three dog parks and a jogging trail, all affording employees and their pets options that best suit their personality or mood on a particular day. The architectural design integrates interior and exterior spaces, bringing the outdoors in and allowing the exterior spaces to function as work environments. Additional amenities on the site include a fitness center, full-service cafe with interior dining space that opens to the exterior dining area, photo studio, electric car charging stations, and an 850-kilowatt, roof-mounted solar panel system, which provides more than half of the building’s energy needs. In addition to Cairns, the Smith Consulting Architects project team also included Mark Langan as project executive, Arati Rangaswamy as project manager, Milos Makaric as project designer for the shell and site, and Andrew Tarango as project designer of the interior spaces. Project consultants included Wiseman and Rohy as structural engineer, RBF as civil engineer, MPE as electrical engineer, McParlane & Associates as mechanical and plumbing engineer, and Ridge Landscape Architects . Petco is a leading pet specialty retailer that focuses on nurturing powerful relationships between people and pets. The company operate more than 1,400 Petco locations across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, including more than 120 Unleashed by Petco locations, a smaller format neighborhood shop; 10 Pooch Hotel destinations for pet daycare, boarding and spa services; prescription services and pet supplies from the leading veterinary-operated pet product supplier, Drs. Foster & Smith ; and petco.com. Founded in 1988 by Cheryl (Dennie) Smith , Smith Consulting Architects is a full-service planning, architecture and interior design firm. In addition to corporate headquarters and office facilities, the firm has specialized expertise in retail, R&D, life science, medical, manufacturing, and industrial facilities. Smith Consulting Architects is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council with extensive expertise in sustainable design. The firm is comprised of 23 design and support professionals.