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The Copenhagen Zoo's award-winning Elephant House by Norman Foster will soon be joined by a yin and yang-shaped Panda House by another famous international architect. Bjarke Ingels Group, Schønherr Landscape Architects, and MOE have collaborated on an enclosure designed to resemble the panda's natural habitat. The circular exhibit will open in 2018 ahead of the arrival of two giant pandas from Chengdu in China, a goodwill gesture from the Chinese government following a 2014 visit to the country by the Queen of Denmark.
The new Panda House will be nestled within the existing buildings at one of the oldest zoos in Europe. "Copenhagen Zoo's idea-driven organization was key in defining the team we wanted to work with on the new Panda House project," said Steffen Stræde, Zoo Director, Copenhagen Zoo. "It's part of our DNA to let everyone from zookeepers, to gardeners and vets, influence the design and function of the facilities to secure the well-being of our animals. The team understood our approach and successfully integrated it into their design process to create a world-class home for these adored Pandas."
The circular shape of the Panda House is informed by the existing perimeter facilities at the intersection of multiple walkways. The exhibit is designed for the comfort of the pandas, with visitors feeling like the guests in their home, rather than the other way around. The animals are given freedom to roam about in a naturalistic environment boasting ideal mating conditions.
"Architecture is like portraiture. To design a home for someone is like capturing their essence, their character, and personality in built form," said Bjarke Ingels, Founding Partner, BIG. "In the case of the two great pandas, their unique solitary nature requires two similar but separate habitats — one for her and one for him. The habitat is formed like a giant yin and yang symbol, two halves: the male and the female, complete each other to form a single circular whole. The curvy lines are undulating in section to create the necessary separation between him and her — as well as between them and us. Located at the heart of the park, we have made the entire enclosure accessible from 360 degrees, turning the two pandas into the new rotation point for Copenhagen Zoo."
All interior functions of the Panda House are designed to put the verdant landscape at eye level to amplify visitors' immersion in nature. The undulating landscape gives visitors direct views into the panda's habitat. The ground floor will host a restaurant situated between the elephant and panda exhibits, allowing diners to watch both animals simultaneously. The highly vegetated environment creates a dense and lush "mist forest" and a light green bamboo forest for pandas to move between according to season and temperature, replicating their experience in the wild. Construction is scheduled to begin later this year following the approval of the 150 million DKK budget.
