Bird House |
| Hob Uid: 1169760 | |
Location :
Greater London Authority
City of Westminster
Non Civil Parish
|
| Grid Ref : TQ2827483259 |
| Summary : The Bird House at London Zoo was originally built in 1882-3 as a Reptile House, replacing an earlier reptile house which had been built in 1849 and was the first of its type in the world. The 1882-3 building was designed by Charles Brown Trollope, the Zoo's architect, and built by Holland and Hannen. The main block is rectangular in plan measuring 36 metres by 18 metres and is built of brick and sandstone with slate roofs. Within the interior were ten cages each to the north, east and west. The large cages to the north were for larger snakes, the smaller ones for small snakes and lizards. The central circulation hall originally contained three ponds, one of which was for crocodiles. In 1927-28 the building was converted into a bird house, designed by P E C Lain following a brief by David Seth-Smith, Curator of Birds and Mammals. This involved the addition of brick lean to aviaries and metal cages to the south and west . Small bird aviares, designed by John Toovey, the Zoo's architect, were added in 1974.In 2008 the Bird House reopened as the Blackburn Pavilion, which was named after the Blackburn family, who provided support to the Zoo during the early 1990s when the Zoo was faced with closure. It has been renovated as a walkthough exhibit recreating rainforest and cloud forest environments for more than 50 different species of birds including several species in danger of extinction, or are already extinct in the wild. |
More information : The Bird House at London Zoo was originally built in 1882-3 as a Reptile House, replacing an earlier reptile house which had been built in 1849 and was the first of its type in the world. The 1882-3 building was designed by Charles Brown Trollope, the Zoo's architect, and built by Holland and Hannen. The main block is rectangular in plan measuring 36 metres by 18 metres and is built of brick and sandstone with slate roofs. Within the interior were ten cages each to the north, east and west. The large cages to the north were for larger snakes, the smaller ones for small snakes and lizards. The central circulation hall originally contained three ponds, one of which was for crocodiles. In 1927-28 the building was converted into a bird house, designed by P E C Lain following a brief by David Seth-Smith, Curator of Birds and Mammals. This involved the addition of brick lean to aviaries and metal cages to the south and west . Small bird aviares, designed by John Toovey, the Zoo's architect, were added in 1974. (1)
In 2008 the Bird House reopened as the Blackburn Pavilion, which was named after the Blackburn family, who provided support to the Zoo during the early 1990s when the Zoo was faced with closure. It has been renovated as a walkthough exhibit recreating rainforest and cloud forest environments for more than 50 different species of birds including several species in danger of extinction, or are already extinct in the wild. (2-3) |