SUMMER MAINTENANCE
DUDLEY ZOO MAINTAIN MORE THAN JUST THE ‘BEAR’ NECESSITIES
Kemper Systems are helping Dudley Zoological Gardens to get summer ready with key maintenance and refurbishment works to their enclosures and kiosks. new and exciting.”
Dudley may not be a location that springs to mind with the world’s most remarkable architectural landmarks but parts were granted World Monuments Fund status in 2009, placing them alongside iconic heritage sites including Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.
The structures in question are the Tecton buildings at Dudley Zoological Gardens (DZG). There are 12 of them in total, each designed by Bethold Lubetkin and his Tecton practice. They are the world's largest single collection of Tecton buildings and some of the few remaining UK examples of this innovative and influential architectural movement from the 1930s and 1940s.
DZG CEO Peter Suddock who led the programme said: “Tecton was a radical architectural movement that used pre-stressed concrete to create striking curved structures.
“When Dudley Zoological Gardens was first planned and built, this radical, ultra-modern approach to design and construction enabled the architects to work with the challenging slopes and underground limestone caverns on the site to create a visitor attraction full of visual appeal that looked completely
34 | TOMORROW’S FM above at close range.
It’s hard to imagine the enormous visual impact that the Tecton structures must have had on zoo goers when DZG first opened to the public in 1937, with their futuristic forms contrasting with the site’s 11th century castle.
Over the years, trends in zoo best practice have meant that some of the structures are no longer in use as viewing enclosures. Time has also taken its toll with wear and tear too. The DZG Tectons were put on the World Monuments Fund’s watch list of world class buildings threatened by neglect, demolition or disaster in 2010.
As a result, a lottery-funded project is now underway to preserve and protect the structures for future generations.
MAKE AN ENTRANCE Among the Grade I and Grade II
Tecton structures that have so far been refurbished at Dudley Zoological Gardens, under the watchful eye of English Heritage, are the entrance canopy and ticket kiosks, concession stands, and the impressive ‘Bear Ravine’ which was once used to allow zoo visitors to view the bears from
One of the main priorities of the refurbishment programme is to protect the structures from water and environmental damage due to rainfall, which led to the specification of a cold liquid-applied waterproofing system from Kemper System.
Stuart Hicks from Kemper System explained: “The Kemperol waterproofing products can be applied to the exact contours of the existing prepared concrete substrates in a single process. They cure to form a monolithic membrane that is chemically bonded to the structure and provide an ideal base for the decorative and slip-resistant quartz aggregates chosen to match the look of the original structures.
“As a result, the Kemperol system and aggregates used for the entrance canopy, kiosks and the Bear Ravine provide the least obtrusive, long- term protection for the structures without any significant changes to their appearance.”
The first project of the refurbishment programme to be delivered was the entrance canopy which consists of five horizontal ‘S’ shapes, each
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