The Animal Rescue League of Boston (ARL) is a mission-driven organization with 100 staff members and more than 540 dedicated volunteers. In looking to consolidate its program management activities on its 22-acre Pine Ridge campus in Dedham, where ARL maintains a shelter and veterinary center, ARL engaged MDS to design its new administration and training building that will compliment its animal care facilities.

The new building includes offices, training facilities—supporting both dog training programs and staff training activities—and a mobile surgical unit service area. A separate maintenance and storage building is set within the site. The new building is sited on Pine Street, set back from the street edge, on the “lower terrace” of the sloping site. The design references traditional New England connected farm buildings with segmented volumes and natural materials. The administration building features a weather vane that was salvaged from another small building that was demolished as part of this project. Energy efficiency and environmentally responsible landscape design are central tenets to the project. The 22,500 sf building opened in 2021.