Exhibitors
SHOW GARDENS
| COURTYARD
GARDENS | CHIC
GARDENS | CITY
GARDENS
PLANTS | FLORAL
ART | LIFELONG
LEARNING | MARKET
PLACE
Show gardens
The Zoological Society of London
Gorilla Garden
Designer:
Graham Pockett
Sponsor: The Zoological Society of London
Contractor: Landform Consultants
Click here to view a panorama of this garden.
The idea of designing this garden arose out of one of the major building and landscaping projects taking place in London Zoo, to create a new African gorilla and primate enclosure.
Water cascades down the bank of this garden and a stream flows towards the front. The whole design is based on creating the illusion of a West African forest, with a clearing at the centre. The clearing is known as a bai, and is kept open by gorillas grazing on the vegetation. Bais are often quite swampy and are used as gathering places where family groups can meet and interact.
A human element is provided by an eco-hotel set deep in the forest. Only a small part of the hotel will be visible through the vegetation in the shape of a covered veranda, which represents a look out deck. This covered veranda has been developed from a scaled down version of the main visitor viewing area for the gorilla enclosure at the Zoo. This garden will be a pioneering example of a relatively new movement in ‘immersive’ zoo environments, where the visitor experiences being in the same habitat as the animals.
Plants have been selected to give the impression of a tropical rainforest, but all the species are capable of surviving winter outdoors in London.
After the RHS Chelsea Flower Show all of the plant material and most of the built elements will be reused in the landscaping of the gorilla enclosure at London Zoo.