Jared GRIMES

The Zoo Changes You

Jared Grimes | Advisor: Kelly Vresilovic

A new model for zoo design within an urban context

Drexel University Architecture Thesis| 2017-2018

A change in zoo design can change the way we think about our place in the natural world

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We, as a culture, often view ourselves as distinct and separate from the natural world.

Home

Zoo

Zoo

Our World

Work

This detachment often prevents us, as individuals, from understanding our role in issues such as habitat loss, species extinction, poaching and pollution.

Shop

Daily Lives

Modern zoos reinforce this misconception.

Zoos today exist as isolated bubbles within “our world”, a fragment of the world without.

The reality however, is that we are intrinsically connected in nearly every way with the “natural world”.

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My thesis aims to change our perception of our place within the natural world, using zoos as a medium.

Many zoos are working towards expansion and transparency, blurring lines between visitors and animals, allowing a greater variety of experiences for people, freedom and choice for animals.

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My goal is to take this one step further: To blur the edge between zoo and city By removing the edge barriers of traditional zoos, a”satellite” zoo located in an urban context could help mend the disconnect between “our world” and the “natural world” .

By focusing on local and regional species, primarily those that have adapted to urban life, this type of facility could help to create a sense that each individual has an impact.

That we are all apart of this.

Remove the Wild to make a Zoo

City eventually surrounds the Zoo

Let the Zoo bleed into the City

Programming The building program is primarily education based, providing galleries, classrooms and seminar spaces where visitors can learn about their local urban ecosystems. A gift shop complements this by selling items focused around supporting these ecologies.

The building would be supported by a central administrative and service center, with a small veterinary wing.

A restaurant or cafe operates independently from the educational center, but allows guests and visitors an opportunity for incidental experiences with the animals.

Keeper support spaces would be scattered across the site, where animals would have their secondary holdings and receive care.

This zoo would function as a satellite facility of a local major zoo, so all major support, such as large scale food prep and composting would take place off site

Educational 15,385 SF 3,400 Classrooms

Cafe 3,400 SF

Veterinary & Service 8,485 SF

3,000 Educational Exhibits

2,250 Lecture Hall

1,600 Habitat Exhibit

1,600 Seminar Rooms

1,100 Offices

760 Open Offices

500 Conf.

Room

500 Lobby

Gift Shop 2,400 SF 2,800 Animal Holding

2,050 Medical Suite

1,100 Outdoor Holding

650 Open Offices

450 Lab Space

400 Med. Prep

320 Holding Support

300 Lobby

200 Offices

120 Records

Precedents Monterey Bay Aquarium • • •

Cheonggyecheon Stream

Adapts an existing infrastructure Utilizes its context to educate Intrinsically tied to its surroundings

Fish In the Ocean

Catch the Fish

Take to Fish Murder House

Help keep Fish in Ocean

Build Fish House

Remove Fish Murder House

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Created a thriving urban ecosystem Nature co-exists with urbanity Adapts an existing infrastructure

Adelaide Zoo Entrance • • •

Demonstrates conservation practices Revitalized an urban area Impacts and educates non-zoo goers

Zoo Research The history and evolution of zoos is a fascinating and convoluted topic. The research initially began as a study on how zoo and exhibit design had changed, but the relation between people and animals quickly became the focus.

Looking at how animal display had changed over the course of human civilization, from status symbols in royal menageries to live specimens for observational study in the 18th century to today, began to shape what I was seeing as the next step for zoos.

Understanding how the goals and objectives of zoos had changed over time to match with the current intellectual identity of man acted as a forecast to help predict where zoos will go next.

Combined with the new animal trail systems being incorporated in zoo design, I made accommodation of local wildlife the 5th goal and central tenet of my thesis.

Zoo360, Philadelphia Zoo

This zoo will help bring zoos’ messages of species and habitat conservation home to guests, to help promote backyard ecosystems and to work towards a future for all species.

Starting at home.

Single Exhibit

Long Range Overhead Rotation / Movement

Adjacent Rotation

Rotation Circuit

Accommodate Entertain Educate

Research Conserve

Animal Trail Network

Site Analysis Philadelphia Zoo

Art Museum

Selected Site

The site I selected is “The Cut”, a 4-block long daylit trench that runs through Philadelphia just north of Callowhill St. It is a relic of the city’s industrial past, but has essentially been discarded by people, and has since been reclaimed by nature. Until very recently, it supported a lively ecosytem of urban wildlife, which makes it ideal to demonstrate and promote healthy urban ecologies.

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Logan Circle

City Hall

1/2 Mile

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1/2 Mile

1/4 Mile

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CCP

Groceries

R JO MA Tourist Destinations

Amenities & Retail Frontages

Rail Park

Rail Park Connections

Trapped!

1/2 Mile 1/2 Mile

1/4 Mile

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or in m

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Academic Institutions

Residential Areas

Transit Hubs

Parkway PMA Barnes Museum Rodin Museum Logan Square Franklin Institute Free Library

Center City Mormon Temple Logan Square

Early Concepts The design process began in section, finding a way for pedestrians to enter The Cut from the street, and maximizing daylight into the trench.

The solution was to terrace down, 25’ from street level, on the south side while preserving the existing north side, which includes a balcony-like structure and covered walkway.

The next big step was deciding how to handle The Cut itself. Existing ramps, remnants of it’s industrial past, would form primary circulation routes, acting as a segment of the Rail Park system. The majority of space in The Cut would be converted to a “reclaimed park” given space and time, nature would be allowed to take over the trench once again, encouraging an ecosystem to take root. It would not be landscaped, just cleaned of litter when needed.

Existing Site

Terrace down to The Cut

Cut back on a slope

The animal trail network, would extend into portions fo the trench, allowing exhibited animals to travel alongside people through the Rail Park.

The building began to form into a bridge of sorts, connecting people across The Cut, allowing them to experience the site from multiple vantages.

Exhibit Area

Pedestrian Pathing

Reclaimed Green

Animal Trail

Educational

Veterinary

Cafe

Service Area

Midterm Review By the midterm review, the project had developed into a Bridge / Berm Scheme. A walkway runs alongside and up the building’s western side, terminating at a berm on the north side that brings guests back down to street level.

Visitors can cross the cut through the building, which offered wide views of the zoo below and the city beyond. The main entry is at the southwest corner, fronting the street with a large indoor aviary. Guests then move to the lower level, visiting the aviary and educational kiosks before exiting into the Cut and zoo.

The veterinary / service center and Cafe are detached from the main educational building, functioning independently. The cafe engages the city-oriented southeast corner, while the more private vet/service center hides behind the berm.

The exhibits are located mostly on the southern terraces, while some occupy The Cut and the north side. the trail network extends throughout and into The Cut, with overhead connections and nodes offering varied and dynamic experiences.

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Entry Area / Lobby Educational Habitat Habitat Support Educational Exhibits Gift Shop Seminar Rooms Lecture / Event Space Classrooms Administrative Space Support Space Core Area

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SEMINAR GIFT SHOP EDUCATE CA

Midterm Review

Terrace Down to the Cut; Preserve North Wall

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Connect across the Cut

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Entry Plaza Educational Center Balcony Overlook Cafe / Dining

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Education Amphitheatre Veterinary Center Service Area Replace Soil as a Berm

Midterm Review Berm

Green Roof

Main Floor (Street Level) Habitat Exhibit (Multi-Level) Lower Floor (Subterranean)

Site Circulation

Exhibit Layout

Technical Review For the technical review my big focus was on structure and on the more niche zoo elements.

The portion of the building that bridges The Cut has a robust superstructure amde up of plate girders atop chunky columns. This structure is all exterior, supporting a split-slab floor to prevent any significant thermal bridging.

The typical structural bay is 10’ x 24’, the load carried laterally to a CMU mass wall on the west side and to steel beams on the east.

The program was rearranged to reflect a visit vs. stay dichotomy. The street level has a more “pass-through” oriented program, for a casual visitor to see and experience the zoo. The lower level holds the more destination-based program, for visitors who are there with a purpose, such as to attend an event or a class.

The back-of-house zoo systems have been organized conceptually to reflect the more recent steps forward in exhibit network design. Since no exhibit is “owned” by any one species, the back of house is organized to allow ease of movement.

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Entry Area / Lobby Educational Habitat Habitat Support Educational Exhibits Gift Shop Seminar Rooms Lecture / Event Space Classrooms Administrative Space Support Space Core Area

Technical Review

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Ground Level

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Entry Plaza Educational Center Balcony Overlook Cafe / Dining

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Education Amphitheatre Administrative Area Service Area

Street Level

Central Station 1 - N.American Otters 2 - Hawks 3 - Fox Raccoon (Trails)

Roof Level

S. 18th St Station 4 - Coyote 5 - Owls N. 18th St Station 6 - Opposums 7 - Bobcat

Technical Review

Final Review

Final Review

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Reclaimed Areas

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Entry Plaza Balcony Overlook Cafe Entry Learning Plaza

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Admin Entry Service Entrance keeper Area Exhibit Layout

Final Review

Final Review

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Entry Lobby Indoor Aviary Exhibit Support Lecture / Event Hall Seminar Room Educational Gallery Gift Shop Classroom Storage Admin. Center Garage Veterinary Center Mechanical Room

Final Review

Final Review

Final Review

Refelections Looking back on my work for this project, I’m happy with how things fell into place. I worked hard, and though this was a difficult program to tackle, I think overall the design and the ideas that drove them were going in the right direction.

The feedback I received at the final review was mostly postive. All of the jurors had seen my project at least once throughout the year, and all were pleased with the moves that I made. The most compelling feedback for me, personally, were a few jurors who were very skeptical of my program at the beginning of a presentation, but were convinced and excited about it by the end.

Some longer than others but it was really fulfilling to hear that they came around. (Thanks Mark) I think the one area I’d say needs more attention, and did throughout the year, was the actual exhibits themselves. The jurors agreed, and the lack of clarity on how the exhibits and trail system all interacted with the site was one of their major criticisms.

That being said, I struggled to find the right resources to really understand and design some of these elements. This type of program and project doesn’t really exist yet, or have a precedent, and zoos are a very specialized type of project.

Though it was a grueling hell of a year, I’m very proud of my project and what I’ve accomplished for thesis. Designing zoos is the reason I decided to pursue architecture, and getting to do that for thesis is probably the only reason I made it through. Hopefully, I’ll be able to be able to pursue this passion further.

Thanks for all the support Kelly!

“Zoo-goers still see nature less as a community to be conserved, than as a commodity to be consumed�

- Aldo Leopold