Best Zoo Entry Area

[geomorph]

What are the best zoo entry areas? I have been to 40 zoos, and I find that very few have entry areas that really set the tone for the zoo or are impressive facilities. These areas include the ticket booths and gates and entry gathering areas, but can also include restrooms, gift shops, restaurants, attractions, animal exhibits immediatly adjacent, education centers...whatever constitutes the initial entry. I don't count entry roads or parking areas before the entry. I have come up with my favorites list:

1. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The entry area features a cohesive set of modern buildings arranged around a large circular plaza paved with a map of the Pacific Rim, situated at the top of the sloping hilly site, overlooking a great view of Puget Sound. The complex includes a wide ticket booth and turnstile gate with a massive zoo sign above it. On each side of it, sloped shed roof buildings feature a gift shop in one and a cafe in the other. Beyond those, on one side is an education center with the same type of structure, and on the other side is a carrousel building which is circular shaped but compatible with the complex's wood finishes. Signs all match and layout is open and easy to navigate.

2. Denver Zoo. This complex surrounds a central entry turnstile which is reached by a nicely landscaped plaza that features beautiful modern brushed-finished brassy looking animal sculptures scattered around the ample seating areas. All the scultures are African animals, and the style of the complex is a mix of clean modern architecture with vaguely African details. It is not meant to be a Masai village, its theming is abstract rather than precise. A ticket booth pavilion and guest relations building is on one side, the gift shop on the other. After entering, the mongoose exhibit of Predator Ridge is immediatly encountered, so this entry and first exhibit encounter are seamless, I believe they were built at the same time.

3. San Francisco Zoo. The best exhibit complex in this zoo is immediatly adjacent to the zoo's entry, in fact visitors can get a view into the African Savanna outside the gates. The entry area is not African themed, it actually is a modern interpretation of California craftsman bungalow style with its several entry buildings housing ticket booths and restrooms and gift shop. The landscape serves as a transition from the beachside location of the parking lot into the zoo, composed of rough aggregate planters filled with coastal salt-and-wind-tolerant plantings. This transitions slowly through the entry area into plantings that eventually set more of a theme for the African exhibit which follows. Again, I think this entry area and the African Savanna were built at the same time, so the viewing areas into the animal exhibit are seamless with the entry experience while only providing a preview of the sights to come.

4. Oregon Zoo. This complex features a grouping of buildings which are each unique but form a woodsy and welcoming greeting to everyone coming in from the heavily evergreen-forested Washington Park. A gift shop is contained in a slightly modern shed building, a membership office in a log cabin, a cafe in a wood lodge, and ticket booths in a striking beamed
entry. In addition, turnstiles are housed under another beamed structure after visitors travel through the roomy stone-scattered plaza. Once again, I think this area was built at the same time as the first animal exhibit that is encountered, the Great Northwest. In particular, the excellent rocky mountain goat exhibit is viewed directly from the plaza even before entering, and the whole complex sets the tone for this first themed set of exhibits.

I have posted pictures of each of these entry areas in their respective galleries!

 

[reduakari]

What are the best zoo entry areas? I have been to 40 zoos, and I find that very few have entry areas that really set the tone for the zoo or are impressive facilities. These areas include the ticket booths and gates and entry gathering areas, but can also include restrooms, gift shops, restaurants, attractions, animal exhibits immediatly adjacent, education centers...whatever constitutes the initial entry. I don't count entry roads or parking areas before the entry. I have come up with my favorites list:

1. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. The entry area features a cohesive set of modern buildings arranged around a large circular plaza paved with a map of the Pacific Rim, situated at the top of the sloping hilly site, overlooking a great view of Puget Sound. The complex includes a wide ticket booth and turnstile gate with a massive zoo sign above it. On each side of it, sloped shed roof buildings feature a gift shop in one and a cafe in the other. Beyond those, on one side is an education center with the same type of structure, and on the other side is a carrousel building which is circular shaped but compatible with the complex's wood finishes. Signs all match and layout is open and easy to navigate.

2. Denver Zoo. This complex surrounds a central entry turnstile which is reached by a nicely landscaped plaza that features beautiful modern brushed-finished brassy looking animal sculptures scattered around the ample seating areas. All the scultures are African animals, and the style of the complex is a mix of clean modern architecture with vaguely African details. It is not meant to be a Masai village, its theming is abstract rather than precise. A ticket booth pavilion and guest relations building is on one side, the gift shop on the other. After entering, the mongoose exhibit of Predator Ridge is immediatly encountered, so this entry and first exhibit encounter are seamless, I believe they were built at the same time.

3. San Francisco Zoo. The best exhibit complex in this zoo is immediatly adjacent to the zoo's entry, in fact visitors can get a view into the African Savanna outside the gates. The entry area is not African themed, it actually is a modern interpretation of California craftsman bungalow style with its several entry buildings housing ticket booths and restrooms and gift shop. The landscape serves as a transition from the beachside location of the parking lot into the zoo, composed of rough aggregate planters filled with coastal salt-and-wind-tolerant plantings. This transitions slowly through the entry area into plantings that eventually set more of a theme for the African exhibit which follows. Again, I think this entry area and the African Savanna were built at the same time, so the viewing areas into the animal exhibit are seamless with the entry experience while only providing a preview of the sights to come.

4. Oregon Zoo. This complex features a grouping of buildings which are each unique but form a woodsy and welcoming greeting to everyone coming in from the heavily evergreen-forested Washington Park. A gift shop is contained in a slightly modern shed building, a membership office in a log cabin, a cafe in a wood lodge, and ticket booths in a striking beamed
entry. In addition, turnstiles are housed under another beamed structure after visitors travel through the roomy stone-scattered plaza. Once again, I think this area was built at the same time as the first animal exhibit that is encountered, the Great Northwest. In particular, the excellent rocky mountain goat exhibit is viewed directly from the plaza even before entering, and the whole complex sets the tone for this first themed set of exhibits.

I have posted pictures of each of these entry areas in their respective galleries!

I think you hit all of the very best entry areas out there. I have not seen Hogle and Cincinnati's new entry complexes, which sound interesting, but not as promising as those discussed above.

Of those your list, I am partial to Denver's because of the seamless integration with animal exhibits, and the overall quality of the buildings, sculptures and signage.

 

[geomorph]

One entry area that I haven't seen is Memphis Zoo, which has an Egyptian motif that looks intriguing.

 

[snowleopard]

I've visited all 4 zoos that were described in the informative first post (Point Defiance, Denver, San Francisco and Oregon) and I agree that they all have excellent entry areas. The Pittsburgh Zoo would not make my list, but there is something to be said for a gigantic outdoor escalator taking visitors up to the zoo. I think that the Memphis Zoo's entry is one of the best around, and when I visited last summer I posted quite a few photos in the ZooChat gallery of the Egyptian entrance.

 

[geomorph]

snowleopard, yes I enjoyed your photos of the Memphis Zoo entry, thats what made me think of it! I haven't been to Pittsburgh either but may be going soon, combined with a Cleveland and maybe Columbus trip.

 

[Arizona Docent]

Yes, I agree 100% that most zoo entrance complexes are lame. I have never understood why they don't put more into this. Even the famous San Diego Zoo has a boring entrance.

Here's my list of good entrances:

Denver Zoo (great entrance and lead exhibit, although rest of zoo is not great)
Cincinnati Zoo (new entrance, although I haven't seen it in person)
Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium (new entrance near aquarium, although surprisingly they still use the boring old entrance as well)
Los Angeles Zoo (a huge, garish, over-the-top entrance, which is what you would expect from the entertainment capitol of the world)
Memphis Zoo (another over-the-top one, but nicely done)
Fort Worth Zoo (very nice african huts)
Reid Park Zoo (my zoo has a very nice modern design, although some might not care for it because it's not "natural" or "exotic." But it is aesthetically pleasing as well as functional, and on special evening activities they actually project images onto the ceiling tarp. Here's a link: http://www.zoochat.com/819/reid-park-zoo-entrance-night-65023/

 

[Miniaturezoo954]

Now this is a topic i really enjoy, having visited some of US biggest zoos, and living in South Florida, i can't really understand why more attention is not focused on this areas of Zoos. The entry point (Entrance, ticket kiosks, and related faciilities are what tell potential zoo visitors "we are here", especially in Zoos that are centrally located in the middle of Cities, maybe the problem with most US zoo entrances is the lack of visibility from the streets, due to many factors, like extra large parking lots, odd locations for zoo parks, etc.
As an example my local zoo, Miami Metrozoo has one of the worse entrances you can imagine, for the size of this zoo, you would expect a fantastic looking entrance, but this sadly is not the case, instead you get a wooded shelter entrance, with an average concrete waterfall.
But the worst part is that the zoo has a very long driveway path to even get to the parking lot, so at many times visitors just pass by it, and don't even realise is there.
I remember talking to an individual that didn't even know Miami Metrozoo existed, and thought that parrot jungle was our local zoo, the sad part is that said individual lived in the area where the zoo was located.

Another factor is that North America (US mainly) has so many atractions, and so many lifestyles that zoos are really given little importance, pick up a travel magazine for any US city, and you would be lucky to find any reference to a zoo (with little exeptions) one has to be San Diego Zoo, they seem very proud of their animal parks in this city, but the entrance of the zoo, makes me think that there is only an average looking zoo behind it, unreal.

The entrance sets the tone, and i have been saying this for years, but to very little people here it makes a difference.

As a contrast take a look at this World Class entrances for Other zoos across the world, now this are entry points that really set the tone of the experience, and tell you a great place is waiting on the other side.

 

[Miniaturezoo954]

Now let's take a look at the entrances of some of Americas top zoos, some are better than others, but for a country that outspends every other in the world when it comes to spending in single zoo exhibits, they could probably do much better in most of this zoos, and i clearly understand that most of this other entrances have a lot of history that the US being such a new country can't duplicate, but we can use our imagination and create our own history as we go along, let's not be mediocre.

The Bronx Zoo is not bad, but it could really use a facelift

Dc zoo looks to have a very well planted entry point, but no official entrance, i guess that since it's free, they did not bother with an entrance.

San Diego zoo's entrance is really not bad, i love how lush it is, but for the WORLD FAMOUS SAN DIEGO ZOO it is a disgrace.


And finally Woodland Park Zoo, i heard something about them building a new entrance soon, and let us hope is anything better than this, it does not look any place i would enjoy walking into, very misleading.

 

[Dan]

Totally off-topic, but any news on your great project, Miniaturezoo954? (Perhaps a subject for a separate thread...). What´s happening?!

 

[Miniaturezoo954]

Well going a little off topic, but at the same time staying in the topic
one of the reasons why i loved this thread so much, was due to the amount of research that i had been doing in the subject for the past month, i'm right now working on the entrance for my zoo model, and it was one of the hardest dessisions, since i had already built with the help of some local carpenters a very large structure to act as the entrance point for the layout.

But at the end i was not satisfied, it really missed the point of having such an incredible zoo model, and an average entrance.

I sold a lot of items in ebay, and placed together with the help of many good people the 10 000 dollars i needed to create a very unique vision, of a zoo entrance, it is in its final stages, and i believe the artist will have it ready sometime in September, it is unique in every aspect, but features the design that you can find in the great zoos of Europe, brick, stone, etc,

It is actually two separate entrance gates, one the Entry point, the other is the Exit point, and in the middle iron gates as well as in both sides.
Each gate has a couple of massive statues in their roof, one gate has a Panda and a White rhino, the other has a Gorilla and Elephant, both have 3
hanging lamps that work on batteries (no electrical wire needed) and the kiosk windows are on the outside facing the city streets.

So far this is the last Item i'm missing to start setting up the first section of the layout with the Massive birdhouse building, and Reptile/aquarium building.

 

[Dan]

Great stuff, miniaturezoo954! Keep us posted on the project! And, please.... pictures, pictures and more pictures....

 

[geomorph]

Arizona Docent, I haven't seen the newer LA Zoo entrance yet, but I remember the old new one in the early 90's and it was a good rational modern design, although nothing special. Does the new one include an exhibit as well?

 

[mstickmanp]

Arizona Docent, I haven't seen the newer LA Zoo entrance yet, but I remember the old new one in the early 90's and it was a good rational modern design, although nothing special. Does the new one include an exhibit as well?

The new entrance does include a harbor seal exhibit. It used to be a sea lion exhibit, but the seals were too old so they were moved back to their old exhibit.

http://www.zoochat.com/578/los-angeles-zoo-entrance-42515/

 

[Arizona Docent]

The sea lion exhibit is actually inside the entrance, cannot be seen really from outside, so I'm not sure you can count it as part of the entrance (although it was built along with the entrance and is the first thing you see upon entering the zoo). The main attraction is the gigantic letters of LOS ANGELES ZOO which tower very high overhead. You have to be standing underneath them to get the full effect. Like I said, totally over-the-top (hard to get a feeling from the photos - you have to be there to really feel it). Here's a photo I took of it with black and white infrared film: http://www.zoochat.com/578/los-angeles-zoo-entrance-65643/

 

[mstickmanp]

This is the description of the zoo's entrance plaza that I found in the website:

The dramatic Los Angeles Zoo entrance provides visitors with one of the most dramatic zoo entries in our nation. Conceptually mirroring the face of Southern California, it emphasizes themes important to the development of our region—climate, agriculture and water, and in doing so underscores the Zoo’s mission as both a zoological institution and a botanical garden. Sea Lion Cliffs focuses on the ecology of Southern California’s rocky coast and near-shore waters. The 160,000 gallon saltwater exhibits features either California sea lions and/or harbor seas in a replicated rocky cove with two pools of varied depth, three viewing areas with below- and above-water views and a beach area for the animals.

 

[geomorph]

Thanks for the info...it looks impressive!

 

[geomorph]

I have just seen two newer zoo entrances which deserve mention as runners up to my list.

Cincinnati Zoo's new entrance is a vaguely colonial tropical complex of buildings and landscape. An entrance building with escalator and elevator fronted by a plaza with rhino sculpture is located in a new parking lot across the street. Once on the second level, a bridge crosses the street to the ticketing building and turnstile shelter, which leads to a rentals and restroom building, and a gift shop building whose interior is still being finished. The Natural Selections Cafe is a small outdoor cafe on another plaza. The complex is called Historic Vine Street Village. Oddly, it features a WiFi hotspot so one can Zoochat when one gets bored with the extensive zoo's offerings!

Kansas City Zoo's entry area consists of two main buildings which surround the turnstiles, and two adjacent animal exhibits. Both buildings are modern and feature curving metal rooflines that shelter large curving wood beams inside. One building is the Zoo Learning Center, fronted by an attractive play plaza with climbable sculptures, and also has the rental facility on the backside. The other building includes ticketing, Beastro Cafe, Deja Zoo Gift Shop, and restrooms. It is also the building that houses the zoo's administration offices. An attractive curved pond and landscape houses trumpeter swans, and an adjacent great rocky exhibit for river otters features windows for seperate underwater and land viewing areas. The new polar bear exhibit is being constructed adjacent to the entry, so it might be considered part of the entry area in the future if it features immediate viewing into their enclosure.

 

[DavidBrown]

I've read that studies of zoo and aquarium design have shown that visitors want to see animals as soon as they get to the entrance of these institutions which makes great sense if one thinks about it. This would explain why San Francisco built their giraffe savanna to be visible from the entrance and from what I have read the Minnesota Zoo now has their new penguin exhibit as the first thing one encounters at the zoo (can someone confirm this?).

Flamingoes seem to be common entrance exhibits at California zoos (San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland).

 

[Arizona Docent]

Flamingoes seem to be common entrance exhibits at California zoos (San Diego, Sacramento, Oakland).

They are common entrance exhibits at zoos throughout the United States - far too common. It is such a cliche' that it is one of my pet peeves.

 

[team tapir]

For a smaller zoo the Akron Zoo has a very nice front entrance.It looks like a large cabin with two castle style doors.The interior contains a visitor center,ticket booths,gift shop and adminstrative offices and a party space on the upper level.

Team Tapir