Staten Island Zoo

The Staten Island Zoo and the New York City Department of Design and Construction hired us to redesign the existing children’s zoo, create a new entry building, bookstore and education center, design a carousel enclosure and a new outdoor leopard exhibit.

Currently in schematic design phase of this project.  Our strategy is to create a new entry building and plaza that provides a new face for the zoo on the Clove Road entry.  The entry building simultaneously refers to traditional farm structures and to more geologic and geometric forms closely associated with a natural landscape.

The entry building creates a public plaza that incorporates a landscaped amphitheater and a new duck pond. From the entry plaza a visitor has the option of going into the new farmstead or towards the main zoo structures and the new leopard exhibit.

The farmstead is designed to engage children in an immersive and didactic farm experience. In addition to the farm animal exhibits where children can pet and feed farm animals, there are a series of farm related objects and buildings including barns, a tractor, a windmill, water features and a working garden.  The main structure within the farmstead is a teaching barn where children can enter a barn for a “behind the scenes” look at the interior of a barn.

The new carousel enclosure provides a transformable enclosure for a themed carousel ride.  The structure provides shelter and warmth in the winter and opens up to allow for passive natural ventilation cycles.

Throughout the new area trees become and important feature in terms of aesthetics and visual quality of the zoo but also as a passive component of the building performance.

The project will be a LEED silver certified project. The intersection of play and fun at the zoo and sustainable design offers a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the possibilities of green design to a young, receptive audience.