The Penguin Pool at

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

is a

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

enclosure designed in the

International Modernist International style may refer to: * International Style (architecture), the early 20th century modern movement in architecture *International style (art), the International Gothic style in medieval art *International Style (dancing), a term used in ...

style by Berthold Lubetkin and the

Tecton Group The Tecton Group was a radical architectural group co-founded by Berthold Lubetkin, Francis Skinner (architect), Francis Skinner, Denys Lasdun, Michael Dugdale, Anthony Chitty, Val Harding, Godfrey Samuel, and Lindsay Drake in 1932 and disbanded ...

. Constructed in 1934, Historic England describe it as "a key symbol of British (and International) Modern Movement architecture". The pool housed the zoo's collection of penguins for 70 years. Changing attitudes to keeping animals in captivity, and concerns regarding the suitability of the structure for penguin well-being, saw the pool's closure in 2004 and its subsequent replacement by Penguin Beach. After a period of non-use, during which Lubetkin's daughter called for the structure to be "blown to smithereens", the pool was converted into a

water feature In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity, tho ...

. It is a Grade I listed building.

History

The

Zoological Society of London The Zoological Society of London (ZSL) is a charity devoted to the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. It was founded in 1826. Since 1828, it has maintained the London Zoo, and since 1931 Whipsnade Park. History On 29 ...

was founded in 1826 and by 1828 had established a zoological garden in

. From its beginnings, the Society employed a series of notable architects to create its buildings:

Decimus Burton Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and Reg ...

designed many of the earliest structures, including the Llama and Camel House in 1828, the Ravens' Cage in the same year, and the Giraffe House in 1836; Anthony Salvin Jr. built the Aviary in 1863; Charles Brown Trollope undertook the Stork and Ostrich House in 1896, and

Guy Dawber Sir Edward Guy Dawber, RA ( King's Lynn, 3 August 1861 – London, 24 April 1938) was an English architect working in the late Arts and Crafts style, whose work is particularly associated with the Cotswolds. Biography Edward Guy Dawber ...

built the Reptile House in 1927. Until the early 20th century, the prevailing view of

animal husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...

was that exotic animals would not survive in the colder, Northern European environment and that it was therefore necessary to confine them in shelters. The appointment of

Peter Chalmers Mitchell Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell (23 November 1864 – 2 July 1945) was a Scottish zoologist who was Secretary of the Zoological Society of London from 1903 to 1935. During this time, he directed the policy of the Zoological Gardens of London and c ...

as Secretary of the Society in 1903 saw a change of view, towards creating more natural habitats; Mitchell himself, in conjunction with

John James Joass John James Joass (1868 – 10 May 1952) was a Scottish architect, born in Dingwall, Scotland. His father William Cumming Joass was an established architect in that town. The son was given basic training with his father, and then in 1885 arti ...

, designed the Mappin Terraces, a series of artificial mountains designed to provided realistic environments for bears and other animals. In 1933 Mitchell commissioned the designer Berthold Lubetkin and his

to design the Gorilla House. Lubetkin, an émigré from Russia who came to Britain in 1931, knew, and was much influenced by,

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

and the Gorilla House was among the first buildings in Britain constructed in the

style. The Penguin Pool followed in 1934, "a key symbol of British Modern Movement architecture". The pool was highly experimental for its time and place, being built entirely of

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having hig ...

. The pool was subject to a major restoration in 1986-88, which Bridget Cherry noted had "restored its pristine appearance". Others were more critical. By the early 21st century, the penguins in the pool had begun to exhibit symptoms of bumblefoot, a bacterial infection. It was suggested that the replacement of the original rubber and cork floor covering with concrete and a

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

during the reconstruction had caused micro-abrasions on the penguins' feet, leading to infection. This led to the closure of the Penguin Pool in 2004, and its later replacement with a new habitat, Penguin Beach, in 2011. The pool's closure, and the zoo's inability to find an alternative use for it, led to concerns regarding its long-term future. An attempt to house

Chinese alligator The Chinese alligator (; ), also known as the Yangtze alligator (), China alligator, or historically the muddy dragon, is a crocodilian endemic to China. It and the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') are the only living species in the ...

s in the pool was unsuccessful, and drew criticism from The Twentieth Century Society which claimed that “the zoo does not comprehend the aesthetic qualities of its best building”. In 2019, Lubetkin's daughter, Sasha, suggested that it was time to "blow it to smithereens". The pool had been listed by Historic England in 1970 as a Grade I listed structure, its highest possible grade reserved for buildings of "exceptional interest". This made demolition an unlikely option and the zoo subsequently announced plans to restore the pool as a

. In 2022 the pool was prominently used as a location in the music video for '' As It Was'', the lead single from the third studio album by

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

Architecture and description

Lubetkin worked on the design of the pool with members of the

and with his engineer, Ove Arup. The structure has an

elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...

pool at its centre, with " cantilevered interlocking

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:nesting boxes at one end. A viewing gallery runs around the exterior. It is constructed of

and covered in white cement render. Arup’s construction expertise in concrete was both critical and groundbreaking: arguing that concrete slabs, cast as one element with the joints as strong as the central spans, would enable architects to achieve any length and shape, he was instrumental in achieving the spiral ramps. The

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, in its 2016 exhibition, ''Engineering the World: Ove Arup and the Philosophy of Total Design'', described the pool as proposing "a new direction for British architecture, ndalso one of the first to demonstrate the expressive and structural potential of reinforced concrete." Other critics have been less certain of the structure’s value: in an article in the ''

Architectural Review ''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism � ...

'', Polly Gould wrote; “the experimental architectural form is not for the animals, but for the visual pleasure of the human audience”. Lubetkin himself also expressed doubts; speaking some forty years after the pool’s construction, he suggested, “the philosophical aims and orderly character of those designs are diametrically opposed to the intellectual climate in which we live…these buildings cry out for a world which has never come into being.”

Gallery

Penguin pool, London Zoo, England-24Oct2010 (6).jpg, Exterior Penguin-03.jpg, The helix ramps with penguins London Zoo 40393.jpg, A view of the pool from the 1970s Penguin Pool, London Zoo 01.JPG, The pool after closure Penguin-06.jpg, A penguin at the pool’s edge

Footnotes

References

Sources

External links

{{Commons category, Penguin Pool (London Zoo)
Bridge of Dreams, the Penguin Pool, London Zoo - Essay on the pool
Buildings and structures in Regent's Park Modernist architecture in London Berthold Lubetkin buildings Ove Arup buildings and structures Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster London Zoo et:Londoni loomaaia pingviinide bassein