In Adelaide Australia, the multidisciplinary design practice, Hassell designed The Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct which comprises a series of interlinked forecourts that unfold over 2000 square metres to create a natural transition and physical connection between the roads, parklands and waterways.
The Zoo boasts Australia's first purpose-designed 'green roof' to support wildlife shelter and extensive 'living walls' of native plants, making it a significant horticultural park and research centre as well as a world class zoo.
Hassell
+ Project description courtesy Hassell
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The Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct breathes new life into a once neglected part of the city of Adelaide. Dispensing with the traditional boundary between the Zoo and its surrounds, the new entrance invites visitors to view the sights and sounds of the Zoo from public forecourts. The Zoo boasts Australia's first purpose-designed 'green roof' to support wildlife shelter and extensive 'living walls' of native plants, making it a significant horticultural park and research centre as well as a world class zoo.
The result of an ambitious integration of physical, cultural and organisational strategies, the Entrance Precinct was designed around the core drivers of conservation, environment, education, and research.
The Precinct comprises a series of interlinked forecourts that unfold over 2000 square metres to create a natural transition and physical connection with surrounding roads, parklands and waterways. These new links through the forecourts provide access to cafes and exhibitions via safe, lit pathways, remediating a once unsafe part of Botanic Park and demonstrating the transformative capacity of urban design to promote safe, healthy and liveable cities.
Landscape and built form for the project have been considered as a single interwoven environment to create a unique Australian civic space. The external colour palette and materials reflect the Australian landscape, incorporating charcoal, spotted gum timber and native plants.
The project will become a platform for ongoing research into potential alternative models for built form to support and promote urban ecology, manage stormwater appropriately and enable more efficient performance in solar power generation.
+ Project credits / data
Architect: Hassell
Project: Adelaide Zoo Entrance Precinct
Location: Adelaide, SA, Australia
Client: Adelaide Zoo
Scale: 5,150 sqm
Completion Date: 2009
Photography: Peter Bennetts
+ All images and drawings courtesy Hassell
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