Why do they need buildings?

In general, people don’t visit a zoo for its architecture. But even in Apenheul’s vision of free animals without cages we still need some structures for animals to shelter at night or whenever they need to get isolated for health reasons.

To fit with the Apenheul ambition, we took the unique natural environment as a backdrop to the new structures, making them disappear, or dissolve into the landscape and fit with the visitor experience.  And buildings are designed according to strict security parameters while maintaining soft invisible borders, and providing a comfortable environment for the animals.

Tamarin Monkey Behaviour

Tamarin monkeys largely live in family groups of a father, mother and their offspring, and they are normally born as twins. A typically family group is composed of just three to nine members.  The tamarin building’s flexible interior layout can house up to four different species through an innovative night enclosure system. During the day they can share a common space in the food forest or inside winter viewing gallery, depending on the weather.

Circular Building

A circular building concept is applied, which represents a goal of 0% waste and no further depletion of resources. Everything which goes into the building should be able to be dismantled and reused in the next lifecycle of a building, through the use of modular building systems and circular materials.

Construction is approached from a sustainable framework that aims to keep products, components and materials at their highest utility and value at all times, through a better understanding of the design and sharing of resources.

Woolly Monkeys and Bearded Saki’s

The building was originally designed for one group of Woolly Monkeys  a group of Bearded Saki’s; however late in the design process these species were switch to other areas in the plan, and the facility currently houses a group of White Shoulder Capuchin Monkeys and a family of Howler Monkeys. The building did not need to be adjusted, since it was designed to be flexible.

Both species are arboreal; meaning they live in trees and use their forelimbs in flexion to raise themselves and cling to branches. They both live in social groups leaded by an alpha male. They also have an elaborate system of vocal, visual and tactile communication.

Woolly Monkey Building

This structure is a very basic building, that is fully based on optimizing the care and wellbeing of the animals.

It is designed as a model structure for future, similar typologies in the rest of the master plan. It combines abundant natural light with a flexible interior system of connected inner enclosures in varying dimensions. It also includes an office area, and a medical separation area.