Realm of the Red Ape, Chester Zoo

The project involved developing the orang-utans old enclosures into a state-of-the-art tropical home for the orang-utans.

The building supports five internal enclosures, two of which are exposed to the elements and three which are totally enclosed below an ETFE roof. The building is on two levels with a viewing platform at the upper level to provide access for visitors at canopy level to view the Orang-utans at their natural level.

 

The facility is designed as a rainforest incorporating individual displays and small enclosures which contain other inhabitants of the rainforest such as the mangrove snake, flying lizards, marbled praying mantis and the Jungle nymph all of which require their own controlled environment.

Careful design of the lighting and sprinkler systems are vital to stimulate growth of the plants and vegetation and all of the M&E design is subtle in appearance but effective in its application. The Realm of the Red Ape was opened to the public in June 2007.