ZOOS & AQUARIUMS
KIERAN STANLEY CEO, EXPERIENCE ARCHITECTURE DAN PEARLMAN
Kieran Stanley has created Hannover Adventure Zoo’s
Yukon Bay, Germany and Chester Zoo’s Islands, UK
What’s the philosophy at Dan Pearlman on zoo design? Our overriding philosophy is that we build stories. Storybuilding is our signature. The philosophy is to create an emotional tie between the visitor and the animal – to create the fascination, the goose-bumps. If we create an emotional connection between a child and a polar bear, for example, there’s a very good chance that child will want to look after these animals and realise his own actions have an effect.
What makes good zoo design? Good design means creating the ideal environment for an animal’s needs. This includes behavioural enrichment elements, which should be built in at the start. For example, we designed the polar bear exhibit at Hannover Adventure Zoo in Hanover, Germany, as part of the immersive environments of the Yukon Bay project. At the beginning we planned a wave machine to enable the bears to “hunt” fi sh in a more natural way. That’s different from throwing
toys in an exhibit as an afterthought, which kills the holistic approach to the design. From a design aspect, you need strong themes. Chester Zoo in Chester, UK, is very focused on conservation and has one of the strongest conservation teams in the world, so the design for its Islands project was driven by that core theme. Visitors go on their own conservation expeditions, learning about the conservation work the teams are doing. Good design makes the zoos’ work relevant to the visitors.
When designing a zoo exhibit, what’s your starting point? We always start with the brief from the client’s point of view. Is it a traditional zoo, a conservative zoo? What aims has it set itself over the next 20 years? How does it want to develop? What image does it have? What species does it have? That defi nes the approach to the design. Then we work with our landscape architects, architects, designers, scenographers and storytellers to develop concepts. We include the stakeholders in the design process from a very early stage.
What are the most important considerations concerning the animal and visitor? For the visitors, it’s important that they are as close to the content as possible. We want visitors to make an emotional
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