© 2026 Dwell Design Practice
Designed for how
you actually live.
Scratch-resistant millwork. Hidden litter ventilation. Flooring that survives a Great Dane's nails without looking like a veterinary clinic. We rebuild homes around the animals already living in them.
The Practice
What we
actually do
Most renovations treat pets as an afterthought — a rubber mat here, a baby gate there. We start from the animal and work outward. The result is a home that shelter magazines photograph and your vet approves.
Structural Integration
Behaviorally-Informed Layout
Surface Science
Hidden Infrastructure
Expert Panel · 01 of 03
Annotated Floor Plan · Willowbrook Residence, Portland OR
Marcus Webb
Principal Architect · AIA
The building knows
who lives here.
We start every project with a behavioral audit — watching how your animals move through the space before a single wall is touched. The cat that always jumps to the top of the fridge is telling us something. The dog that won't cross the hardwood into the kitchen is telling us something else.
"The cat highway isn't a feature. It's a load-bearing decision that happened to run through the ceiling joists."
Behavioral audit before design brief
Structural integration of pet infrastructure
Every path documented in annotated plans
Expert Panel · 02 of 03
Stress lives in
the architecture.
A dog that destroys furniture isn't badly behaved. It's in a space that gives it no choice. We design around the neuroscience of animal stress.
Dr. Priya Nair
Veterinary Behaviorist · DACVB
847
Behavioral Audits
94%
Anxiety Reduction
12
Species Consulted
6
Published Studies
Every project includes a pre-design behavioral consultation. We observe your animals for two hours — where they sleep, where they avoid, where they pace. That data becomes the first layer of the brief, before aesthetics, before budget, before the architect draws a single line.
"The living room that makes your anxious rescue dog lie down and exhale — that's not luck. That's a 900mm decompression corridor and a sightline we planned on the floor plan."
Multi-cat Households
Vertical territory mapped to prevent resource competition. Every cat gets a distinct elevation.
Large Breed Dogs
Flooring friction coefficients calculated for hip dysplasia prevention. No more slipping on tile.
Anxious Animals
Decompression corridors and bolt-holes built into the architecture. Retreat is always one step away.
Multi-species Homes
Spatial zoning that lets dogs and cats coexist without a single baby gate in sight.
Expert Panel · 03 of 03
Keiko Tanaka
Materials Engineer · MSc Materials Science
Every surface
earns its place.
We run every material through a 90-day test protocol before it enters a specification. Claw abrasion. Urine pH exposure. Saliva contact. Slip coefficients at wet and dry. If it doesn't pass, it doesn't go in.
"The flooring that looks like white oak is white oak. It just has a Janka rating your Great Dane can't argue with."
Approved Materials · 2026 Spec Sheet
Scratch-Resistant White Oak
FlooringHardened UV lacquer, Janka 1360
Great Dane Approved
Matte Porcelain Tile
Wet AreasR11 slip-rated, anti-microbial glaze
Hip-Safe for Large Breeds
Phenolic-Backed Millwork
CabinetryUrine-resistant substrate, wipe-clean face
Litter Cabinet Spec
Performance Velvet
UpholsteryCrypton-treated, 100k rub count
Claw & Fur Resistant
Stainless Feeding Recesses
Hardware316 marine grade, drain-to-plumbing
Island Integration Standard
Start the Conversation
Book a
Walkthrough.
A 90-minute consultation — in your home or on video — where we map your animals' behavior, identify what the current space is costing them, and sketch the first layer of a brief.
"We walked through our apartment and within twenty minutes they had named three things our cats were doing that we'd never noticed. The renovation made sense after that."
Behavioral Observation
45 min watching your animals move through the space.
Design Brief Draft
First layer of constraints and opportunities mapped.
Materials Shortlist
Initial surface specifications based on your animals.
Free Resource
The Pet-Friendly
Materials Guide
48 pages. Every surface we specify, with test results, supplier codes, and the exact reasons we chose each one. Used by 2,800+ homeowners to brief their own contractors.
48 Pages
Fully annotated
31 Materials
Test results included
Free
No credit card