Barkitecture – Sara Salam

The balboa barkitect

Bridging building science, design, and performance for the multi-species household

If you’re like me, your pets aren’t just animals—they’re family. But let’s be real: sometimes our homes don’t exactly “agree” with our furry roommates!

We’ve all been there: the “zoomies” on slippery floors or the mystery barking at things we can’t even see. I’m expanding how we approach living with our animals and diving into the Architecture of Coexistence. Think of it as the ultimate glow-up for Universal Design.

As a Sensory Systems Engineer, I use technical HSW protocols to hack your home’s “Invisible Map”. We’re talking Ethonomics: engineering spaces that tackle everything from “Micro-Anxiety” triggers to that ultrasonic hum only your cat can hear.

It’s time to stop treating our pets like accessories and start treating them like the stakeholders they are. Let’s engineer a sanctuary where every nose, ear, and paw—and you!—can finally catch a vibe and decompress.

What I Do:
I specialize in creating beautiful, elevated spaces that solve the unique pain points of pet ownership, including and especially health, safety and welfare for all members of the household. Think:

Auditing space for environmental stress triggers, like sound, bottlenecks in walkways, and more, before making a design recommendation.
Material selection that considers how both animals and humans interact with various surfaces.
Smart layouts informed by building science and the biology of all occupants that prioritize both human comfort and pet safety.

This methodology is called the Domus Vitae Standard™, which is Latin for The Living Home.

The Domus Vitae Standard™

Welcome to the technical foundation of modern residential design. As our understanding of the built environment evolves, we are moving beyond “pet-friendly” aesthetics and into a new era of biological accountability. The Domus Vitae Standard™ is a rigorous, multidisciplinary framework designed to align the architecture of the home with the physiological and psychological needs of all its inhabitants.

At its core, DV is a commitment to HSW: Health, Safety, and Welfare. By recognizing that a household is a multi-species ecosystem, we expand the definition of “Welfare” to include the mitigation of chronic biological stress and the prevention of physical injury for every resident, regardless of species. Check out the link below to learn more about what we do