CU1611

CASEstudy
Marwell Tropical House
Its 3D BIM and advanced modelling tools made Vectorworks the ideal choice for Terence O'Rourke
when designing Marwell Zoo's new Tropical House
Designed by award-winning
planning and design
consultants Terence O'Rourke,
Marwell's Tropical House is scheduled
to be completed by February 2018 and
is intended to replace the existing
Tropical World exhibit. It incorporates
an Energy Centre using a sustainable
energy source to power both the
Tropical House and other exhibits within
the park.
Run by Marwell Wildlife, Marwell Zoo
is a well-established, highly respected
and successful zoological park in the
south of England. It has an international
reputation for wildlife conservation as
well as being a very popular visitor
attraction in the South Downs National
Park. Marwell Wildlife is a charity
dedicated to the conservation of
biodiversity and
other natural resources. It undertakes a
broad portfolio of conservation
activities. Marwell Wildlife is also
committed to promoting sustainable
living through initiatives such as
renewable energy generation.
With a strong ethos of involving
people in successful conservation
projects, the charity works closely with
local communities, both at home and
abroad, to find sustainable ways of
living alongside wildlife.
The building features an elongated S-
shaped plan, 1277sq.m in gross
internal floor area, with an elevated
entry and a lower level exit. The
environmentally controlled Tropical
House to the south is separated from
the Energy
Centre to the north by a central
concrete thermal wall. The enclosure of
the building will also serve as the
defining element of its architectural
identity, which is a lightweight curved
roof clad with a translucent ETFE
membrane, supported by an exposed
curved steel structure.
Entering at high level you are taken
along a meandering boardwalk and
path through a tropical themed
environment of vegetation, waterfalls,
rock faces and aquariums populated
by animal species that will interact with
the visitors, such as sloths, monkeys
and lizards. The visitor will feel that they
are in the animals' environment. The
base of the exhibit will be sculpted to
reflect an uneven forest and desert
floor with water features.
12
November/December 2016