Designing a living campus: a veterinary university and emergency hospital in Northern Ontario

Abstract

The veterinary profession in Canada is facing a critical shortage. This crisis is driven by surging pet ownership, limited educational capacity, and worsening burnout among veterinarians. These facilities can lack environments that support learning, collaboration and well-being. This thesis will explore how the architectural design of a proposed veterinary campus in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada can begin to address these key issues. Drawing from One Health One Welfare frameworks, studies of the Human-animal relationship, and knowledge of Indigenous kinships, this thesis synthesizes a proposed “Living Campus” framework to guide the design of the veterinary campus. The proposed design re-imagines veterinary architecture as an ecocentric multi-species environment rather than a purely clinical facility. Integrating emergency care, education, wildlife rehabilitation and community engagement, the design prioritizes animal, human and ecological well-being. This is done by creating spaces that support multi-species well-being, minimizing environmental harm, encouraging collaboration, promoting respect between species and sustainable design.