Foster + Partners to redevelop aviary at ZSL London Zoo

Architectural firm Foster + Partners has been commissioned by ZSL London Zoo to renovate its Snowdown Aviary.

The grade II listed building was designed by Cedric Price with Frank Newby and Lord Snowdon in 1962, and was the first aviary in the UK to offer visitors a “walk-through” experience.

The aviary is now set to be modernised, after ZSL secured the initial stage of a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant to carry out the research and planning phase of the renovation project earlier this year.

Walk-through area

The new design will include a new walk-through area, which will be home to the zoo’s troop of colobus monkeys.

Norman Foster, chairman and founder of Foster + Partners, says that the Snowdon Aviary is a “rare example of a completed work by Cedric Price” and that he has a “particular personal affection for it” as it shows most strongly the influence of their mutual friend and mentor, Buckminster Fuller.

Foster, who is looking foward to contributing to the “tradition of contemporary architectural additions”, says: “The redevelopment of the aviary is a unique opportunity to preserve this exceptional structure and the legacy of pioneering architecture at ZSL London Zoo.”