ZSL London Zoo Clore Pavillion for Small Mammals article

Crowthorne

Crowthorne

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Whilst looking for images of the old London Zoo North Mammal House (if anyone has any pictures of the building they could point me towards I would be most grateful!), I came across this recent article from the 20th Century Society, which looked at the Clore Pavillion for Small Mammals as it's Building of the Month for January 2020. Contains a couple of photos of the building soon after it opened.

Clore Pavilion for Small Mammals, London Zoo – The Twentieth Century Society

NB: The picture of the 'nocturnal section' isn't! That is part of the daylight, rainforest area. There's also a snide swipe at Land of the Lions ;)
 
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Crowthorne said:
Whilst looking for images of the old London Zoo North Mammal House (if anyone has any pictures of the building they could point me towards I would be most grateful!), I came across this recent article from the 20th Century Society, which looked at the Clore Pavillion for Small Mammals as it's Building of the Month for January 2020. Contains a couple of photos of the building soon after it opened.

Clore Pavilion for Small Mammals, London Zoo – The Twentieth Century Society

NB: The picture of the 'nocturnal section' isn't! That is part of the daylight, rainforest area
Click to expand...
It is quite incredible that this building could have won 'Building the Month Award in January 2020'.
January 1957 or 1967 maybe - but surely not 2020...
In its day it was always the highlight of my few trips to London Zoo, which otherwise I felt to be a depressing place. Once I knew more of the animal welfare of its inhabitants it became clear how woefully inadequate much of it was. It had an excellent staff under the control of Frank Wheeler who did a great job with his animals in a building of terrible design. Its animal accommodation was often dreadful, dark and dreary, keeper access atrocious, service passages too small to take service equipment and vermin infested and impossible to prevent same.
Another one for the bulldozer...
 
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Crowthorne said:
Whilst looking for images of the old London Zoo North Mammal House (if anyone has any pictures of the building they could point me towards I would be most grateful!), I came across this recent article from the 20th Century Society, which looked at the Clore Pavillion for Small Mammals as it's Building of the Month for January 2020. Contains a couple of photos of the building soon after it opened.

Clore Pavilion for Small Mammals, London Zoo – The Twentieth Century Society

NB: The picture of the 'nocturnal section' isn't! That is part of the daylight, rainforest area. There's also a snide swipe at Land of the Lions ;)
Click to expand...

"The building is generally described by critics as unassertive and neutral, even modest, to allow the animals to become the focus of visual attention"

I don't think it has changed all that must in that regard even with the updated architecture. I still felt when I visited a couple of times that the animals were the main focus of visitors attention (of course the darkness of the surroundings in "Night life" pretty much centres that focus).

But then again who except for a tiny minority of people go to zoos to admire architecture ?

Their swipe at "Land of the lions" I sort of agree with too. Personally I thought it was absolutely awful, cringeworthy and unnecessary to go so garishly over the top on the Gujarat theme.
 
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My father worked for the architects and designers DRU at the time and I got taken to the zoo and behind the scenes off the back of his involvement. What the piece doesn't mention is that the glass fronts of the enclosures was angled so that visitors can see in without their own reflections looking back. Quite an innovation at the time. I may have more pictures – I'll have a look...
 
Crowthorne said:
Whilst looking for images of the old London Zoo North Mammal House (if anyone has any pictures of the building they could point me towards I would be most grateful!),
Click to expand...
If you're interested in London Zoo's old North Mammal House, it's worth looking out for the book Animals as Friends: A Head Keeper Remembers London Zoo (1973) which contains a number anecdotes about the inhabitants of this building.

The author, Jim Alldis, was Head Keeper of the North Mammal House for many years and he was alone in the building when London Zoo's last thylacine died there. (He, incorrectly, claims to be the last person ever to see a living thylacine.)

Secondhand copies of this book are not hard to find for sale on-line.
 
Tim May said:
If you're interested in London Zoo's old North Mammal House, it's worth looking out for the book Animals as Friends: A Head Keeper Remembers London Zoo (1973) which contains a number anecdotes about the inhabitants of this building.

The author, Jim Alldis, was Head Keeper of the North Mammal House for many years and he was alone in the building when London Zoo's last thylacine died there. (He, incorrectly, claims to be the last person ever to see a living thylacine.)

Secondhand copies of this book are not hard to find for sale on-line.
Click to expand...

I tried looking online for a digitalized copy but no luck unfortunately.
 
Tim May said:
If you're interested in London Zoo's old North Mammal House, it's worth looking out for the book Animals as Friends: A Head Keeper Remembers London Zoo (1973) which contains a number anecdotes about the inhabitants of this building.

The author, Jim Alldis, was Head Keeper of the North Mammal House for many years and he was alone in the building when London Zoo's last thylacine died there. (He, incorrectly, claims to be the last person ever to see a living thylacine.)

Secondhand copies of this book are not hard to find for sale on-line.
Click to expand...

Thank you Tim, don't think this is one I've got in my London Zoo book collection (yet!) :D
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Their swipe at "Land of the lions" I sort of agree with too. Personally I thought it was absolutely awful, cringeworthy and unnecessary to go so garishly over the top on the Gujarat theme.
Click to expand...

As a railway enthusiast I am especially offended by the signal mounted at right angles to the railway line, where train crews would be unable to see it.
 
Andrew Swales said:
It is quite incredible that this building could have won 'Building the Month Award in January 2020'.
January 1957 or 1967 maybe - but surely not 2020...
In its day it was always the highlight of my few trips to London Zoo, which otherwise I felt to be a depressing place. Once I knew more of the animal welfare of its inhabitants it became clear how woefully inadequate much of it was. It had an excellent staff under the control of Frank Wheeler who did a great job with his animals in a building of terrible design. Its animal accommodation was often dreadful, dark and dreary, keeper access atrocious, service passages too small to take service equipment and vermin infested and impossible to prevent same.
Another one for the bulldozer...
Click to expand...
Alive with mice last time I looked
 
Jennings said:
As a railway enthusiast I am especially offended by the signal mounted at right angles to the railway line, where train crews would be unable to see it.
Click to expand...

I didn't notice this one, hahaha :D.

I just remember thinking it was all a bit over the top and could have been achieved using a lot less money by putting a more tasteful information display that went into the history and ethnozoological significance of the lion / vultures / langurs in Gujarat / India.

I think sometimes zoos can go totally overboard with some of these cultural themes / immersion in the design of enclosures or buildings etc and the results can be a bit pretentious and unnecessary.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
True, what a shame as I would have loved to read about this guys memories of the thylacine.
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Although the book "Animals as Friends" (James Alldis) has some interesting anecdotes about London's North Mammal House, frustratingly, for such noteworthy species, the author writes very little about his experiences with the thylacine. Apart from, wrongly, stating he was the last person to see a living thylacine which he describes as:

A curious animal with a mean nature, it had a long, lean body of darkish mustard colour, striped with black bars across the hind quarters, and a narrow head with long and tremendously powerful jaws which it was always ready to use.

he doesn't have anything else to say.
 
Tim May said:
A curious animal with a mean nature, it had a long, lean body of darkish mustard colour, striped with black bars across the hind quarters, and a narrow head with long and tremendously powerful jaws which it was always ready to use.

he doesn't have anything else to say.
Click to expand...

Interesting, Aldiss doesn't seem to have been too keen on the thylacine (which of course all us zoochatters find totally incomprehensible).

Perhaps the aggression of this particular thylacine was due it being a stressed and agitated animal that was experiencing difficulty to adjust to life in captivity.

Similarly, the attitude of Aldiss towards it perhaps may just be a reflection of some of the common prejudices of the time about the natural world and the stereotype of this species as vicious due to popular misconceptions.

To put it in historical context though it was probably extremely unlikely that Aldiss would have known the true rarity and significance of this particular animal under his care. To add to that there was generally a leftover Victorian attitude of nature as being inexhaustible and a "there is more out there in the bush" mentality so I do think that we have to forgive him his prejudice.
 
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