Song of the forest

Dearadh Zu has been supporting the team at Hertfordshire Zoo to develop concept designs for the new Gibbon habitat, which is set to replace the park’s current Gibbon enclosure.

The design has been undertaken to create a State-of-the-art mixed species home for the Gibbons. This will see a lush and interactive environment developed that will promote wellness, double the usable M2 area the animals currently have, and promote animal care, all while enhancing the visitor experience.

The development will contain two outdoor habitats, offering approximately 350m2 of usable animal area, new animal housing facilities, (approx 75m2) and various visitor viewing opportunities.

Client
Hertfordshire Zoo

Location
Broxbourne, UK

Year
2023 - 2024

Dearadh Zu’s Role

Concept Design
Stakeholder Engagement & Workshops
Landscape & Exhibit Design
Soft Landscape design
3D model / CGI Visualisations

PROJECT FEATURES

The scheme includes two large 8 -9m high outdoor enclosed habitats, which provide the animals with ample climbing opportunities up and into the existing tree canopy. The scheme has been built around existing mature trees, which form features within the habitats and add a level of maturity to the planting from day one. These outdoor spaces can be interconnected via slides operated from keeper areas. These two large habitats have been designed to promote and encourage natural gibbon movement, with flight distances and brachiation being considered within the layout.

The scheme also includes a new state-of-the-art house with a onshow day room complete with tropical planting, Biofloor, climbing elements, natural and artificial light sources, misting system and temperature controls needed for the animal's welfare. The house also has several off-show rooms and keeper areas for managing the animals. One great feature of the house is its height from floor to ceiling, which will allow these arboreal animals to utilise the 3D nature of the space.

Visitors will experience the park's Gibbons like never before, with dedicated covered viewing areas for both outdoor and indoor spaces. Within the main outdoor viewing area, visitors will notice a themed water body that will be home to fish, making this a mixed-species environment.

The outdoor habitats have been designed to include lush planting with grasses, shrubs, ferns, trees and palms evoking these animals natural forests. Also within the outdoor spaces visitors will see platforms, sway trees, vertical trunks, ropes and covered outdoor shelters at varying height which will promote the animals to move throughout their new home and really use the volume of space.