Description

TQ 2883 NW ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS
15/3 REGENT'S PARK NW1
14.9.70 CITY OF WESTMINSTER
Penguin Pool

I

Penguin pool. 1934, by Lubetkin and Tecton with Ove Arup as consultant structural engineer to the architects and Felix Samuely as consultant engineer to the contractors, J.L. Kier. The Penguin pool was the second commission Lubetkin and Tecton received from the Zoological Society, followed the same year with work for the Society at Whipsnade. Reinforced concrete; interior surfaces have slate-paved steps, "plastic rubber" (cork chippings, rubber and cement) to flat pool surrounds and exposed concrete finish to ramps. Elliptical pool, with cantilevered interlocking spiral ramps and elliptical enclosure with parapet rising to form framed viewing aperture, canopied at one end. 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. A key symbol of British (and International) Modern Movement architecture and of notable structural and technical virtuosity for its time, the design pursues the behaviourist and environmental research programme of the Gorilla House q.v. as the basis for
creating a dynamic and almost abstract architectural showcase for the display of
the penguins' antics.
Lubetkin and Tecton, Architecture and Social Responsibility: Peter Coe and Malcolm Reading.

Listing NGR: TQ2817383293

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Penguin Pool at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17527142

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)