“Exhibits are a zoo’s natural voice, the best means to communicate to the public our message about the animals that are so important to us.” - Jon Coe (1996)

 

Design techniques allow for zoos to give meaning, aw, enjoyment and motivation to zoo exhibits, improving and allowing the exhibit to take new directions such as “rotation exhibits”, “night safaris” and the “unzoo alternative.” Enriched by the collaborative effort of theme parks, animal trainers, anthropologists, ecologists, educators, horticulturists and sustainability specialists, zoo designer have advanced both the depth and breath of their work.

 

Principles of immersion design ( Coe 1985, Hancocks 2001 ) have more or less stayed the same since they were introduced ( Jones, Coe and Paulson 1976) nearly thirty years ago. Greatly advanced exhibit construction techniques could be seen at the award-winning work done at the Bronx’s Zoo “Jungle World” twenty years ago and since then, Bronx’s Zoo’s “Congo” exhibit now excels in horticulture, exhibitory, multi-media and conservation inspiration. The authentic-looking artificial trees located in the exhibit containing enrichment devices double as a place for physical activity as well as social interaction. The glass visitor tunnel in which the gorillas cross over also allows visitors nose-to-nose encounters as well as situate them in the midst of the resident gorilla families. This exhibit therefore, demonstrates a high point in emersion design in cold climates. Immersion design has ever since achieved the standard of international best practice, the level to which less developed zoos worldwide take inspiration from. In the same way, ninety percent of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA) annual awards for zoo exhibits in the past twenty years have been won by immersion exhibits, as have the last three exhibit awards of Australian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (ARAZPA).

 

Ethnic art, artefacts, architecture and even villages can also be simulated to add an interesting cultural dimension to the visitor experience, telling stories of interactions between people and wildlife. This concept was first popularised by Carl Hagenbeck (1909) and re-emerged in American theme parks and zoos, viewed initially as an extension of immersion design (Jones, 1989). This concept has ever since been developed to a “unprecedented level of thoroughness and integration” at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (Malmberg 1998). In more recent years, Melbourne Zoo’s “Trail of the Elephants” has exercised excellent development of cultural immersion. The 2004  ARAZPA award winning exhibit tells the story of the complex relationship between South-East Asian people and both wild and domesticated elephants. Evaluations done on the exhibit has shown that the exhibit was well received by the public and has proven to have met the Zoo’s learning objectives (Fifield 2004). Ever since, cultural presentations are now a common part of immersion exhibits. 

 

The introduction Immersion design has joined together with the earlier Modernist style rather than replaced it (Coe 1995). Coupled with the obvious use of modern construction materials and technology, used in most off-exhibit areas, allows for a style of choice in displays where durability, flexibility and functionalism are of greatest importance. The primary goal of Philadelphia Zoo’s “PECO Primate Reserve” is to allow larger, accessible and behaviourally enriched year-round indoor space for great apes and other primates (Baker, 1999). The theme of the project was to resemble an abandoned tropical saw mill that have been converted to a primate rescue centre. Achieved by the additional of industrial features such as scaffolds and cranes which “provide both apes and animal care staff safe access to a vertically oriented and changeable array of behavioural opportunities”. From this, staff have reported desirable levels of animal activity and an significant increase in reproductive success (Bake 2003).

 

The constant improvement in areas such as husbandry, enrichment, education and entertainment, as well as the evolving concerns for animal well-being have given way to the development of new design directions . Appropriately designed facilities can support animal training, husbandry and health care, and improve animal welfare. The growing use of animal behavioural management, such as training and enrichment, has resulted in the most exciting new directions in exhibit design. The use of these practices has formed the basis for animal rotation exhibits and demonstrations supporting the zoo’s entertainment and education objectives.

 

When designing a facility for reward-based training (Pryor, K. 1985), the operation should be arranged differently from those using coercive techniques. The opposite situation applies in facilities designed for positive reinforcement training. In these exhibits, the animal transfer gates are near keeper aisles, going staff conversion access for training and rewarding desired behaviours. The keepers paths should also be designed to be parallel to animal raceways and vertical transfer situations, providing access to both sides of transfer gates whenever possible. In “free contact” management for animals such as elephants, training is done anywhere in the animal’s area. Hence, perimeter access is unnecessary and solid walls are often used. However, in “protected contact” management ( Desmond and Laule 1991), training and interaction usually occurs along the perimeter of the enclosure where keeper access is essential. Thus, the ideal design configuration depends upon the type of husbandry expected to be used. 

 

While the concept of rotation or alternating animals between display yards are not new, the ability to transfer animals dependably has made elaborate rotation exhibits practical ( Coe 1995, Steel 2004). Animals rotating through a variety of interconnected enclosures have access to additional space and more varied environments, including traces of the animals that have previously occupied the space in comparison to animals occupying single yards. In Australia, Adelaide Zoo is building a complex of displays which allows orang-utan, tiger, small-clawed otter and dhole (Cuon alpinus) to rotate through three adjacent display areas. From a design and operational perspective, rotation displays are complex and relatively expensive to build and operate. Barriers must be appropriate for the most robust and demanding species to be rotated. 

 

“Good design benefits animals by facilitating environmental enrichment and physical exercise.”

 

Forthman (1984) concluded that immersion exhibits are inherently enriching but additional enrichment is also needed. Coe (2003) has pointed out that many enriching loses their attractive over time due to habituation. Thus, we must constantly seek additional strategies to maintain a good level of animal well-being. Coe (2006) suggested the following enrichment features be taking into account:

• Keep the enrichment natural or within the theme.

• Features of enduring interest to animals should be built-in and permanent such as sun-heated and shade-cooled overlooks, visible basking and rest areas, water features and some climbing features. Hide enrichment systems in order to prevent their appearance form affecting the appearance of the exhibit negatively including artificial heating, cooling systems, treat delivery systems and animal controlled water jets or air bubbles in pools and streams.

• Designers should work with zoo staff to provide abundant attachment points and adequate storage and access for enrichment programs.

 

A large percentage of zoo animals have very limited opportunity for strenuous physical activity compared to their wild counterparts. Therefore,  Taronga Zoo allow their elephants to plunge through a 60 meter long ‘river meander” of three metre deep water following trainers moving along the adjacent shore. This activity should greatly increase physical fitness of the elephants and doubles as an impressive display for the public as well. Furthermore, Hancocks also pointed out the inherent educational value of immersion design based on the premise that perceiving an animal within a multi-sensory context which convincingly presents the habitat in which the species evolved contributes to a greater public appreciation of the animal’s significance as an ecological being, not merely an object of curiosity. Good zoo exhibits should be filled with embedded meaning and it is the exhibit designers responsibility, toking with educators, ecologists, behaviourists and others to design an appropriate form, filled with appropriate meaning, to the total exhibit environment. While “education” is often prioritised by zoos as the main reason for a visit to the zoo, Coe and Dykstra believe that entertainment is the engine in which powers attendance. The National Zoo, for example, include a modernist style ‘O’-line allowing orang0utans to move along 10.6 metre high cables over public walkways for 150 metres beyond their display area to the “Think Tank” demonstration and interpretive complex (Gilbert 1996). Similarly, Adelaide Zoo in Australia is building overhead lines and towers, allowing orang-utans and siamang to pass over and rest above the adjacent tiger display.

 

Night zoos are an exciting design direction combining entertainment as immersion exhibits, differentiating from the traditional zoo as “in a night-time facility everything the visitors sees will be determined by lighting” (Graetz and Coder 1999). Lighting design is a form of naturalistic stage lighting and also allows for cost savings to occur due to service buildings and a percentage of the barriers are able to be hidden in darkness. However the development and operation of lighting systems of such scale adds costs.

 

Zoos and Aquariums practicing and advocating sustainable environmental design provide positive demonstrations of wilderness preservation, regional resource collaboration and urban reforestation for their millions of visitors and by using Thayer’s (1994) vision of “broadened sense of community including not only humans, but all life.” and Kellert’s (1999) advice of “by adequately relating to natural processes and diversity in the built environment, we may achieve lives of meaning and satisfaction.” zoos will be able to advance global green design practice. Zoos and aquariums worldwide must interpret green design in terms of their unique climates, cultures, plants and animals, which will result in a rich diversity of new design directions.

 

The unzoo model greatly reduces the need for a traditional buildings and infrastructure, reducing the impact of human structures on visitor perception of nature and the environmental impact of zoo construction and operation. The use of this model will shift the reliance of capital-intensive facilities such as exhibit and holding buildings to labour-intensive programs, such as training an demonstrations, with a corresponding shift in business strategy.

 

All in all, exhibit designers generally rely upon their own inspiration, intuition and unsophisticated evaluations to learn from their work and that of their colleagues since reliable, valid and integrate evaluations are not available. Designers can access unrelated studies on subsets of design such as environmental enrichment, behavioural management and exhibit interpretation. Unfortunately, despite having such substantial expenditures on immersion exhibits, there is not a single integrated evaluation of immersion theory itself. There are no studies we know of which cross-reference benefits to viewers, animals, staff and conservation action. Woodland Park Zoo is developing a “Fully Integrated Program” (FIP) to integrate the primary exhibit functions in new projects but have not yet evaluated their award-winning exhibits using these terms of reference.

 

“The best exhibits will be those where the close-up potency of living animals connects visitors directly to field conservation action via inspiration messages. These must combine affective and cognitive elements based not just on designer’s whim, but upon that which is proven to be relevant to the visitor.” - Gwynne 2006