A new home for the orangutans Barcelona Zoo

Description of the project by Forgas Arquitectes

Orangutans are the only species of Asian pongids and rainy jungles inhabit the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. As a species have some specific features that need to be mindful to design their zoo habitat.

Unlike gorillas and chimpanzees • the orangutans do not live in family groups but have a complex social life. Some males have a facial swellings, besides giving them a characteristic appearance, are associated with a character much more lonely and domineering. These copies overlap their territory to several adult females with their young and are relatively tolerant with males without bumps but do not support the presence of other males if they have.

Orangutans are animals with high cognitive abilities, with great force and skill that makes them great "escapist" and give them skills to manipulate, operate and deconstruct mechanisms.

Moreover, orangutans are an endangered species due to poaching and deforestation of forests inexcusable. Barcelona Zoo participates in the European Captive Breeding Programme (EEP) player with a remarkable success that has resulted in the birth of five copies of orangutans in recent years.

The complex social life of orangutans entails a new system with different spaces that allow flexible us. With a total of 2,300m2, it consists of a tour for the public and 4 environments for the orangutans: both are heated spaces that allow the shelter when the weather is adverse, and two open spaces and gardens where animals can enjoy the sun and a more natural environment.

All environments for the orangutans are connected together by two entrances to prevent, in case of disputes, potential roundups among animals. The installation allows caregivers to be very close to the animals and do a good track them with the necessary security, maintain a good level of cleaning and disinfection, stock up on food and water, and above all, allows flexibility in managing a complex social group, with the possibility of training, reviews and veterinary treatment.

Confined spaces have large windows that create a light and airy interior space and allow cross visions of the installation and its inhabitants. It is to blur the boundaries between the different enclosures, causing the perception of continuity between them. Naturalization elements and enrichment extend either through the different areas favoring this continuity.

Outdoor spaces obsolete exploit an ancient moat and evoke a rocky ravine in which flows a waterfall that feeds a stream. The water creates a safe and clear limits, promoting good visibility and proximity of visitors avoiding excessive intrusiveness. The sound of the waterfall isolates the visitor to the immediate environment and enhances the intensity of the visit.

The outer edges of the facilities are a forest of bamboos which acts as a diaphragm visitor input. Pergolas plant that accompany public travel generate a shaded environment and helps make more comfortable and less apparent the viewpoints of visitors.

The multiplicity of environments and structures promote both activity and stimulation of animals as possible rest and tranquility, allowing to develop own behavior of the species similar to how they would in their natural habitats way. Different vertical hanger shaped elements provide orangutans with a primarily arboreal locomotion, they can travel throughout space.

The proposal has taken special care in the aspects of management and welfare of orangutans, providing visitors an intimate and complex vision without sacrificing abstraction and expression of architecture and landscape that surrounds it.
Interior and exterior intermingle looking for a close and balanced relationship between visitors and orangutans.