| 67 ARCHITECTURE Architecture Workshop T T to page 68 T T Rosa Watson Award for snow leopard habitat The project was announced a winner in the Public Architecture category of the 2024 Wellington Architecture Awards. Designing a habitat to house New Zealand’s only snow leopards was always going to be a challenging and technical job. Architecture Workshop and the zoo client group that researched and designed the habitat are thrilled with the completed project, which opened at Te Nukuao Wellington Zoo last year, welcoming two snow leopard sisters Asha and Manju. The project was announced a winner in the Public Architecture category of the 2024 Wellington Architecture Awards held last month. Architecture Workshop principal Christopher Kelly said the project was certainly something different for the firm. The design of the specialised, multi-dimensional habitat plays a dual role in delivering both a visitor education and viewing space alongside places where the snow leopards can choose to get away from visitors and receive care from keepers. Christopher said they had been able to extend the original sun bear habitat by another half to provide more space for the animals. The existing site was demolished with material recovered and used as fill from the previous sun bears ‘moat ‘to reduce the land waste. The Zoo also stipulated as part of their sustainability specification that all timbers be Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified. New Zealand timber cladding company Abodo’s Vulcan Shingles were used for external treatment of the sloped Discovery Centre, where visitors can peer through large windows into a den-like section of the habitat. The timber shingles provide a varied grain depth and a texture reminiscent of mountain huts and alpine terrain familiar to the animals. In its brief, the Zoo requested the visitor Phone: 04 568 3171 Email: info@sevenelectrical.co.nz www.sevenelectrical.co.nz Seven Electrical are the Industry Leader by delivering the highest standards of Integrity, Customer Service, Craftsmanship, and Value. Electrical, Data & Security ELECTRICAL Proud to be associated with Architecture Workshop & Naylor Love on the Wellington Zoo Snow Leopards Enclosure project. We were the main electrical contractor for the project. ǃLjǃNj ,1 6,1. tim@in-sink.co.nz in-sink.co.nz Proudly supporting ArchitectureWorkshop&Naylor Love viewing area be below the elusive “almost mythical” animals, known in Nepal as ghost cats, so they could keep an overview of the
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