| Architect |
Antony
Armstrong-Jones (Lord Snowden) and Cedric
Price, Frank Newby of Felix Samuely and
Partners engineer; Margaret Maxwell and
Peter Shepheard landscape architects. |
| Date Built |
1962 - 1965 |
| Location |
Beside the
Regents Canal in London Zoo |
| Description |
|
  The Snowden Aviary, also known as the Northern Aviary, was Britain's first walk-through aviary. In 1998 it was designated as a Grade II* listed building. The comments about it at the time of its listing described it as, "Aluminium and steel structure on concrete foundations. Four tubular aluminium tetrahedra, a pair at either end of the cage, between which are interposed pairs of wider-gauge aluminium tubes in another plane, acting as shear legs and anchored to the ground by two posts in compression heavy rocker bearings and deep concrete infill. .....  .... This framework supports a web of steel cables in constant tension, covered by an all-over black mesh of anodised aluminium netting. Through the middle of the cage a post-tensioned concrete bridge, cantilevered from the ends, forms an angled walkway. ....  ... The plastic-coated handrail acts as a perch for the birds that does not freeze in winter. The ground within the cage consists of ledges, terraces and a very substantial concrete retaining wall, incorporating nesting boxes and feeding areas, which last was necessitated by the unstable canal bank and is not a major support of the structure above. The result is an apparently complex plan, which is in fact very simple; it is 80 feet at its maximum height, 150 feet in length, and 63 feet in breadth. Entered through doors and hanging chains (originally aluminium beads to deter the birds) either from the level or via steps from the canal level (designed by Shepheard) to either side."  |
|
|
Snowdon
Aviary, London Zoo, UK
 |
