Wildlife Rehabilitation & Education Center • Harrisville, UT

Owner/Client: WRCNU

AOR: Place Collaborative

Size: 17,600 SF on 14 Acres

Services: Architecture, Sustainable Design

Completion Year: 2027

The Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah (WRCNU) exists to care for injured, orphaned, and vulnerable wildlife. Since its founding, WRCNU has provided professional care to more than 34,500 wild animals. The Center is designed to support the full continuum of care — intake, treatment, rehabilitation, and release—while educating the public and reducing harm to wildlife.

The new facility includes a dedicated education center with classroom space, indoor and outdoor interpretive displays, and thoughtfully designed learning environments. Education is not an addition to the mission; it is essential to creating lasting change.

WRCNU’s Hospital wing includes surgery, x ray and exam rooms, with support spaces and a quarantine zone.  A large portion of the facility includes areas for the rehabilitation of injured animals, separated according to taxonomic classification

Bridging the rehabilitation work and the Education mission are the resident Ambassador Animals that have a permanent home on the South side of the site near the outdoor flight cage. Ambassador Animals are animals that cannot return to the wild for a variety of reasons, living at the Wildlife Center and interacting with groups as part of the animal education program.

The proposed center is in the heart of Harrisville along Highway 89, transforming an underutilized site into a functional and restorative landscape. The site will be rewilded through the removal of invasive species and the re-establishment of native grasses, pollinator plants, and meadow vegetation.