Elephant enclosure, Zurich Zoo
Public Award for Good Buildings, City of Zurich, 2011–2015
The 6,000 m2 roof of the new elephant house is a timber structure with a diameter of 85 m. The roof structure acts as a self-supporting shell structure perforated by 271 skylights, with a continuous prestressed concrete ring beam that connects local abutment areas. Like a canopy of leaves, sunlight is filtered through the delicate roof structure, creating an interplay of light and shadow with changing lighting moods and striking contrasts.
The 6,000 m2 roof of the new elephant house is a timber structure with a diameter of 85 m. The roof structure acts as a self-supporting shell structure perforated by 271 skylights, with a continuous prestressed concrete ring beam that connects local abutment areas. Like a canopy of leaves, sunlight is filtered through the delicate roof structure, creating an interplay of light and shadow with changing lighting moods and striking contrasts.
1st prize in competition
Using a specially developed form-finding and planarisation process, cross-laminated timber, in combination with full-surface nailing, is transformed into a ductile and robust plate structure. As a hybrid structure combined with prestressed concrete for the ring beam and abutments, this enabled an efficient, material-reduced and therefore sustainable load-bearing structure for the client to be realised.
Details
Realisation
2011 through 2014Owner
Zoo Zürich AG, ZurichArchitect
Markus Schietsch, Dipl. Architects ETHZ, ZurichLorenz Eugster, landscape architect, Zurich