Wildlife Friendly Spaces

Creating Wildlife Friendly Spaces Through Sustainable Design

The Houston Zoo’s Design & Engineering Team has been leading the charge on constructing buildings that help reduce threats to animals in the wild. This year, we installed two new kiosks designed with recycled and reused materials and feature green roofs that act as pollinator gardens for bees and butterflies. In order to decrease the need for electricity, the buildings were designed with big windows to let natural light inside. Our new Cypress Food Kiosk even has solar panels on the roof to help offset energy demand for the equipment inside.

Another way the Houston Zoo is protecting wildlife through the built environment is by retrofitting windows on campus with birdsafe protective film to deter bird strikes. Our bird-safe windows can be found on the Cypress Circle Café, North Admin building, and the Hamill Foundation Black Bear Exhibit.

The new kiosk features a pollinator garden on the roof.