Why Norman Foster?
By Lars Lunding Andersen
When the Zoo celebrated its 140th anniversary in 1999 a master plan for the next 10-15 years was published. Within this plan the entire northern part of the Zoo was reserved for the elephants. Already in 2001 the Realdania Foundation announced that they were willing to donate funds for a scheme design project. Now the question was how to enter upon this task and which architect to choose.
During the spring of 2001 the Zoo’s Managing Director, Lars Lunding Andersen, visited London where he visited the British Museum. Norman Foster and his partner, Spencer de Grey, had just completed their impressive project of covering the central great court with glass transforming it into a large hall. Not only was the managing director thrilled at what he saw. He was also convinced that the Zoo’s new Elephant House should be light like the Great Hall and not a dark, heavy concrete house, as numerous old elephant houses are. Foster’s project gallery holds other interesting projects involving glass domes – for instance the big green house in the National Botanical Garden in Wales and the subway station Canary Wharf in London. So why not contact Norman Foster to ask whether he and his staff would be interested in an elephant house in Copenhagen Zoo.
Both the chairman of the board and Realdania liked the idea - but how was the contact with Norman Foster to be established? The artist Per Arnoldi has participated in several of Foster’s projects as a designer and adviser on colours, signs and ornaments, and on the initiative of the chairman a meeting was set up. Per Arnoldi liked the idea – the letter was written – and on his next trip to Foster+Partners Per Arnoldi acted as an envoy on behalf of the Zoo. A week later Foster’s reply was received: “I will be honoured to do it”.
Why so ambitious?
Many safari parks built simple barns for the elephants, and of course the Zoo could have done that too. However, the Zoo is not a safari park with sufficient space to hide primitive and simple buildings from the visitors. Within its limited area the Zoo needs to ensure that the new houses built also constitute an experience to the Zoo visitors without compromising animal welfare and the security of the staff.
An old, urban zoo is not only working towards nature conservation – the Zoo is also a cultural institution on a par with museums and theatres that provide experiences which also includes recreation and reflection. This is where good architecture plays a role and of which Copenhagen Zoo has a long tradition.
Part of a long tradition
The Zoo has a long tradition of allowing prominent architects to leave their mark on the Zoo. During the period 1928-1965 Frits Schlegel was the Zoo’s favourite architect. For the past 20 years architects such as Dall & Lindhardtsen, Knud Munk and Christian Cold have designed buildings for the Zoo. They are assisted by landscape architects such as Andreas Bruun, Lea Nørgaard and Finn Jørsboe.
Without diminishing the work of former architects in the Zoo it is obvious that Norman Foster and Stig L. Andersson’s project lifts the Zoo into the architectural top league. Not only does the Zoo get a house and outdoor enclosure of international standards, more importantly we get an enclosure that is the best possible in terms of exhibition and animal welfare.
The Zoo believes that good architecture adds value to the visitors’ experience of the animals, just like the well-designed art museum adds value to the museum’s art collection. Nobody would assign any value to a painting by Rembrandt if it was displayed in a simple garage. We are convinced that Norman Foster’s Elephant House will attract focus and add value to the Zoo’s group of Asian elephants, the exhibition and nature conservation.
The architect – the most dangerous animal in the Zoo
Zoo architecture must of course adapt to considerations concerning animal welfare. Zoo history holds numerous examples of this not always being the case. Amongst zoo colleagues we use to say that the architect is the most dangerous zoo animal.
Building an elephant house and outdoor enclosure is a complicated matter. Therefore the Zoo staff spent six months in 2002 writing a detailed programme describing the requirements in terms of a new house. How much space did the elephants need? How strong should the walls and gates be? How would it be possible to move the elephants within a compound? Which demands do elephants make on their surroundings in order to have the best possible conditions? What are the demands of the keepers in order to be able to work safely with giant animals? Which experiences did we wish to convey to the Zoo visitors? These and a number of other questions were debated and written down to form the basis of the work for the architects and the engineers. It is therefore of vital importance that the architect is thoroughly briefed before he starts the project.
Norman Foster’s initial scheme design project
It was soon decided to place the new Elephant House where the old Giraffe House was located, and in November 2003 the initial project was presented to the press.
Two self-sustaining glass domes provided lots of daylight in the stables leaving the visitor areas in relative darkness.
A ramp led the visitors through the house into in a major exhibition area. All along the ramp and in the exhibition area at the lower level of the house the idea was to tell the story of the elephants – in nature and culture.
In the periphery of the house below ground level and out of sight of the visitors the necessary service areas of the keepers and three extra elephant boxes were established.
The romantic park enters the Zoo
Already when the plan was made in 1999 the Zoo was in close dialogue with the Danish Palaces and Properties Agency. The parties agreed to open the border between the park and the Zoo. The first step was made ten years ago when the Zoo established a new Entrance. At that time the demarcation consisted of closed fences which were replaced by new, open ones.
A few years ago the royal park, Frederiksberg Gardens, celebrated its 200th anniversary as a romantic park. The landscape architect of the Elephant House, Stig L. Andersson, wished to integrate the outdoor enclosure of the elephants in the romantic park.
The closed fences facing Frederiksberg Gardens were to be removed and replaced with a new and more natural ground resembling a valley moving its way into the Zoo. The valley was to form the new outdoor enclosure and be shaped as a dry river bed with mud holes and lakes that should serve as barriers. From the park side there would be a view to the enclosure with the old “Elephant Temple” in the background. Towards the south the enclosure would finish with a steep slope with paths on two levels and the northern façade of the old Elephant House. With its characteristic colonnade P.A. Gram Rosenkilde’s Elephant House from 1914 fits perfectly into the romantic environment of the Frederiksberg Gardens.
The final project
The main principles of the scheme design project from 2002 were maintained but during the detailed planning the house became more “green”, today the house appears as two green hills topped with glass domes.
For the wellbeing of the elephants the hard concrete floors of the herd stable were filled with ½ metre of soft sand. The engine rooms and the indoor visitors’ and exhibition area was significantly enlarged, and a number of training boxes were added backstage in order for the keepers and veterinarians to be able to check on and nurse the elephants. This allows for the new husbandry procedure of protected contact.