Pets occupy a special place in our hearts. And soon, adoptable dogs and cats will occupy a new community space designed just for them: The Wallis Annenberg PetSpace™. At its core, PetSpace will connect rescued animals with new homes and provide new owners with robust training and education. It will also offer interactive education programming centered around the science and origins of the dynamic human-animal bond.

Why do pets occupy that space in our hearts? How do they help lower our blood pressure and comfort us as we stroke their warm fur? PetSpace will collaborate with experts in the growing field of Human Animal Studies to present discussions and events focusing on questions like these.

The Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Mission

Annenberg PetSpace is more than a community center. It’s an expression of the Annenberg Foundation’s long-time commitment to animal welfare, education and leadership. This new initiative couldn’t be closer to Wallis Annenberg’s heart, and she describes her passion in this video. As Chairman, President and CEO of the Annenberg Foundation, Wallis Annenberg has made it the mission of PetSpace to strengthen the bonds between people and all animals, to form innovative new policies and partnerships to save animals’ lives through adoption and education, and to make our communities more animal friendly.

Scheduled to open in summer 2017, the two-story, 30,000 sf building will facilitate these goals. The design includes two indoor activity areas, a large learning center, two learning courtyards and pet adoption suites. In addition, expansive animal support spaces will provide for a veterinary area, a pharmacy, and services such as x-ray, surgery, food prep, laundry, grooming and physical therapy. A full-time staff will include an on-site veterinarian, a registered veterinary technician, an animal adoption manager and an animal adoption specialist, among others.  The building will also house a small retail shop, administrative offices and storage.

Residence-like adoption suites will help provide an optimal setting to bring out the best in pets looking for their “forever homes.”  In addition, adoption counseling rooms will provide a place for staff to help adopters identify their perfect match in a pet.

Outside, a secure landscaped area located adjacent to the building will provide open space and seating for supervised programs and activities, with and without animals.

A Community Destination

Annenberg PetSpace will offer many options for families, school children and other members of the community seeking to learn more about companion animals and their care. Equipped with a sophisticated suite of audio-visual and IT equipment, PetSpace will also be well-suited to host conferences and seminars for animal-care professionals, policy-makers and researchers partnering on the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace Leadership Institute’s initiatives.

All of these spaces have been specifically designed to create a fun, engaging and interactive setting where people and pets can connect. PetSpace’s warm and inviting atmosphere will encourage residents, local employees and educators to see it as a vibrant and welcoming community center.

Playa Vista – where a variety of high-tech businesses are located, including Yahoo, Google and Fox – is proving to be exactly the right place for PetSpace, as it is a forward-looking, pet friendly community.

The Annenberg Partnership

MATT Construction began the build out in 2016, marking the third time that MATT has participated in one of the Annenberg Foundation’s signature projects. Our earlier collaborations produced the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands Center and Gardens in Rancho Mirage – now a Camp David of the West for world leaders to discuss international policy, as well as the Wallis Annenberg Center of Performing Arts in Beverly Hills – an arts and culture center which was once the city’s post office. Readers of this blog may remember The Wallis won Engineering News Report’s National Best Cultural Project award for an adaptive reuse project.

MATT Construction is proud to partner with Swatt/Miers Architects and Storyline Studio Exhibition Design on this meaningful project, and looks forward to seeing the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace open its doors to rescue animals and the people who love them.