Twycross Zoo

Brief description 

The project involved the demolition of an existing tiger enclosure to provide space for a brand new den at Twycross Zoo. The demise of the old enclosure was significantly increased to include for a new yard split into three sections: the keeper’s yard, and two areas for the tigers. The den itself provided four cages and a keeper’s area. Outside, the perimeter of the enclosure was designed to provide security to the zoo visitor’s and staff members and landscaping that made the tigers feel comfortable. In addition, three glazed viewing points onto the yard were created, with one of the glazed windows looking in to the enclosed tigers’ play area and a tunnel that allowed the visitors to see the tigers from below when they pass from one side of the yard to the other.

We provided Civil and Structural Engineering services to the Twycross Zoo team for this design and build project.

We designed the foundations to the new den building, approved the steelwork design for the new dens and internal cages, designed the new glazed link between enclosures including the tiger walkover bridge, drainage, pond and design loadings of safety critical elements, such as the glazing and fencing.

Our Principal Designer team delivered the PD duties, with close communication with the client to provide the support on the client’s duties.

They attended design team meetings to ensure that the elimination of the hazard/risk reduction were ongoing without the need of re-visiting items at a later stage, that could result in additional cost.

The regular site visits enhanced the cooperation and communication with the Principal Contractor to improve the health and safety standards of the site and pro-actively identifying potential hazards and address them accordingly.