The re-imagining of the front door of the Adelaide Zoo as an integrated entrance precinct employs an urban design strategy that inverts the figure ground diagram of the zoo’s arrival sequence and breaks down barriers between the zoo and the city. The completion of this work coincides with the arrival of giant pandas Wang Wang and Funi and is part of a suite of new and upgraded projects.
These projects articulate a new vision for the zoo championed by CEO Dr Chris West. The big, and most successful, urban design move here is to place a large arrival forecourt outside the zoo proper. This is a generous gesture, physically and metaphorically. In a physical sense, it creates a public forecourt that is knitted into the fabric of open public spaces adjacent to the zoo and sets up new pedestrian links with the city centre. Metaphorically, it significantly re-positions the zoo as a public institution in the city, presenting opportunities to interact with this public institution without paying the price of admission.
– Jury citation
Credits
- Project
- Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct
- Project manager
- Mariano DeDuonni
- Project architect
- Timothy Horton
- Project Team
- Alex Hall, Sharon Mackay, Nicholas Pearson, Andrew Schunke, Amy Reed, Susie Nicolai, David Bills, Graeme Hopkins, Jeff Lugg,
- Architect
- Hassell
Australia
- Consultants
-
Access consultant
Disability Consultancy Services
Acoustic consultant Sonus
BCA consultant Katnich Dodd
Green roof and walls consultant Planning SA, Zoos SA
Managing contractor Hindmarsh
Project management Arup
Quantity surveyor Rider Levett Bucknall Sydney
Services consultant BESTEC
Structural and civil engineer Wallbridge & Gilbert
Water feature consultant Waterforms International
- Site Details
-
Location
Frome Road,
Adelaide,
SA,
Australia
Site type Urban
- Project Details
-
Status
Built
Category Commercial, Landscape / urban
Type Culture / arts
- Client
-
Client name
Adelaide Zoo
Website Adelaide Zoo
Source
Awarded Project
Published online: 1 Jul 2011
Words:
National Architecture Awards Jury 2010
Images:
Peter Bennetts
Issue
Architecture Australia, November 2010