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| Lord Foster enables elephants to spend the night together Foster and Partners’ first zoological building – the new Elephant House at Copenhagen Zoo - marked its' groundbreaking in an official ceremony attended by the His Royal Highness the Prince Consort of Denmark. The project has been driven by research into the behavioural patterns of elephants - the tendency for bull elephants in the wild to roam away from the main herd prompted a plan organised around two separate enclosures. Covered with lightweight, glazed domes to provide natural light, the spaces maintain a strong visual connection with the sky and changing patterns of daylight. The varying levels on the site provided the opportunity to literally bury the enclosures into the ground, ensuring excellent insulation on the perimeter walls and a real fusion with the landscape. In addition, the glazed domes have opening windows to allow natural ventilation and there is a heat recovery system – further enhancing the environmental efficiency of the scheme. New standards have been set in terms of the elephants' well-being. The main herd enclosure will, for the first time, enable elephants in captivity to spend the night together, as they would in the wild. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |