Berthold Lubetkin &
Tecton with Ove Arup as structural engineer
Date Built
Completed 1934
Location
Regent's Park London
Description
Probably
the most surprising aspect of London Zoo's
Penguin Pool is that it contains no
penguins. The penguins have a new home but
the pool remains as an example of animal
enclosures of an earlier era and as a Grade I
Listed structure designed by Berthold Lubetkin
and realized by the engineering genius of Ove
Arup. Historic England describe it as, "A
key symbol of British (and International)
Modern Movement architecture and of notable
structural and technical virtuosity for its
time..."
The
design involved two interlocking spiral
ramps that raised many challenges. The
listing notes explain that, "The 2
interlocking but independant ramps are
cantilevered over 14.021 metres without
intermediate support, their depth
ranging from 152 mm to only 76mm. At the
head of one of the ramps is a glass
fronted diving tank. The concrete of the
ramps was designed to be permanently
wetted by a revolving fountain."
At an exhibition of
Arup's work at the Victoria & Albert
Museum in 2016 an architect's model of
the pool was exhibited along with a
photograph of the ramps during
construction.
In 1966 the BBC
broadcast a documantary called
"Builder Extraordinary" which
reflected on Arup's work. The
transcript includes the following
comment regarding the penguin
pool. "Arup worked with
Tecton on the elegant little
penguin pool in Regent's Park
Zoo, with its miraculously thin
curved ramps intertwining and
spiralling down into the water:
a witty background to the
pompous shuffle of its
immaculately dressed
inhabitants."
