Cat Friendly House (part 5)

Does it make sense to design homes to cater to the enjoyment of cat and dog pet owners? Several design firms are grabbing the pet-friendly home idea by the tail and running with it.

The demand is there, at least in Japan, claims Fauna Plus DeSIGN and its director, Keiji Hirose, a firm known for designing a custom home for 16 cats. The heart of the home features a cat-climbing tree that serves as a spiral staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second floor of the unit.

The catwalk forms a zigzag design and can also be accessed via steps that protrude from the wall, similar to House Taishido’s shelves. Several of the steps are next to small holes in the walls that lead to other rooms.

Does it make sense to design homes to cater to the enjoyment of cat and dog pet owners? Several design firms are grabbing the pet-friendly home idea by the tail and running with it.

The demand is there, at least in Japan, claims Fauna Plus DeSIGN and its director, Keiji Hirose, a firm known for designing a custom home for 16 cats. The heart of the home features a cat-climbing tree that serves as a spiral staircase leading up to a catwalk on the second floor of the unit.

The catwalk forms a zigzag design and can also be accessed via steps that protrude from the wall, similar to House Taishido’s shelves. Several of the steps are next to small holes in the walls that lead to other rooms.

Other cat-friendly features of that home include:

• a cat-accessible loft that features skylights and windows;
• a multistage cube of shelves with cat beds; and
• a floor-to-ceiling scratching post column, wrapped in hemp rope.

According to Fauna Plus DeSIGN estimates, the cost to design a two-story, detached wooden home built to cat specifications ranges from 3.2 million yen (about $42,000 in U.S. dollars) for a 20-square-meter space (about 215 square feet) — on up to 13 percent of the total construction costs for a space measuring more than 50 square meters (about 538 square feet), the company reports.

Cat Friendly House Design (Part 2)

Many of us adore our cats; and it looks like the Japanese regard them like children. Some Japanese housing builders have come up with designs with special features for cats. Here are the images from a house called Plus-Nyan house by Asahi Kasei, a leading house builder in Japan. This could be a dream house for every cat owner and their cats, as it would require great deal of research to design these houses keeping in mind the requirements of the clients and their cats. Here are a few key features: open air cat walks, climbing steps, cat doors in every door, deck built in to the window, extra space in the bathroom designed for their compartment, cat room hidden under the stairs, special fencing to prevent cats from getting away. Apart from these, there has been use of cat friendly construction materials as well.