Copenhagen Zoo - Elephant House

An overview of the main indoor enclosure for the Asian elephant herd in Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark. This world-famous exhibit was designed by the brittish architect Norman Foster and opened on June 10th 2008. The whole complex has space for one female herd and two males.

This is the main indoor enclosure for the female elephants. The indoor enclosure is one of the best things about this house. It is very light, yet still providing shade. It is quite spacious and the sand is very benifitial for the elephants.

I don\'t know why but I am sort of warming up to liking this house. I simply focus on the fact that it is good for the elephants rather than a bit dissapointing for the visitors.

September 2009

This looks like a mix of the indoors and outdoors.The latter, because of the sand substrate and of course the visually open roofing.I had a good long look at this photo and I must say it inspired me with all kinds of interesting ideas.Large span glazed roofing is becoming better and better technically, and now the main concern with this is poor heat insulation.(Obviously, with changing climate, ensure the roof is graded to withstand extreme weather events, as these are becoming a problem even in unexpected geographic areas).Before anybody says that the heating issue is easily solved with large animals through the use of large infra-red lamps, I would add that these have any number of health risks associated which are only beginning to be appreciated.If economic and ecologically-sound heating can be arranged, I think derivatives of this design should be seriously considered by zoos in the planning phase of new developments.

Thanks for the indoor-picture of the house!