Round House |
| Hob Uid: 619094 | |
Location :
Greater London Authority
City of Westminster
Non Civil Parish
|
| Grid Ref : TQ2809283569 |
| Summary : The original Gorilla House at London Zoo which was built in 1932-1933 by Tecton as the company's first building project. Although the building has been altered it is still considered to be an important example of early modernist architecture in Britain. The building design followed the brief from London Zoological Society's Secretary Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell and the Superintendent Dr Geoffrey Marr Vevers who wanted a building with convertible open caging so that the gorillas could have fresh air in the summer and that the public could see them in the winter. Tecton's architects Berthold Lubetkin and Godfrey Samuel responded with a design comprising a main block, circular in plan, with the northern block the winter cage and the southern block the summer cage - a convertible open air cage which in winter could be used as a enclosed public viewing area. This was achieved by a revolving steel and timber wall and a glass screen which slid across the diameter between the two halves. The building work was undertaken by Christiani and Nielson Ltd with Ove Arup as the Chief Engineer. The revolving wall and roof was made by J and E Hall Ltd. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete with an asphalted flat roof. In 1939 the building was altered to house an elephant and again in 1955 for Kodiak bears. From 1963 it was used for chimpanzees and as a breeding colony for apes until 1990 when the southern area was closed and the northern area adapted as a Koala exhibit. This exhibit was shut in 1992. The building is now known as the Round House and the external enclosure is home to Ring-tailed Lemurs. |
More information : The Gorilla House at London Zoo was built 1932-1933 by Tecton, and was the company's first building project. Although the building has been altered it is still considered to be an important example of early modernist architecture in Britain. The building design followed the brief from London Zoological Society's Secretary Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell and Superintendent Dr Geoffrey Marr Vevers who wanted a building with convertible open caging so that the gorillas could have fresh air in the summer and that the public could see them in the winter. Tecton's architects Berthold Lubetkin and Godfrey Samuel responded with a design comprising a main block, circular in plan, with the northern block the winter cage and the southern block the summer cage - a convertible open air cage which in winter could be used as a enclosed public viewing area. This was achieved by a revolving steel and timber wall and a glass screen which slid across the diameter between the two halves.
The building work was undertaken by Christiani and Nielson Ltd with Ove Arup as the Chief Engineer. The revolving wall and roof was made by J and E Hall Ltd. The building is constructed of reinforced concrete with an asphalted flat roof. In 1939 the building was altered to house an elephant and again in 1955 for Kodiak bears. From 1963 it was used for chimpanzees and as a breeding colony for apes until 1990 when the northern area adapted as a Koala exhibit. This was shut in 1992. (1-2)
The building is now known as the Round House and the external enclosure is home to Ring-tailed Lemurs. (3) |