Striking roof for new elephant park
Dietlikon, 29 May 2012 – In spring 2014, Maxi, Druk, Ceyla, Indi, Chandra and Fahra are getting a new home: the elephants of Zurich Zoo will be moving into the Kaeng Krachen elephant park. The new park will attract a great deal of attention, and not just because of its inhabitants: the outside area, styled to resemble a subtropical forest, and the new elephant house with its striking wooden roof, will form a wonderful backdrop for the new residents. The wooden roof will span the inside enclosure, as well as the stalls and the lodge. From here visitors will be able to observe all the hustle and bustle of elephant life.
Zurich Zoo has awarded the contract for constructing the roof to the Elefantenpark Holzbau Consortium (Implenia, Brunner Erben Holzbau). Constructing the roof represents a major challenge, not least because of its asymmetrical design. The consortium is currently building a preliminary framework that functions as an almost perfect template for the finished roof. In the second phase, starting in mid-July 2012, the actual wooden roof, with more than 270 openings to let light in, will be built. As soon as the roof can support itself, work will start on dismantling the framework. Within the consortium, Implenia is lead manager as well as having responsibility for technical management, quality management, workplace safety and environmental protection.
Wood, as a renewable raw material, is ideal for construction purposes. In fact it is almost perfect for sustainable construction, because of its superior grey energy profile (energy required for production, transportation and processing of materials) compared with other building materials. With a specialist department devoted to wooden construction, Implenia has plenty of in-house expertise and years of experience in this type of building work.
A blog about the building of the new elephant house, and information on construction site tours can be found at www.zoo.ch.
Implenia press contact:
Esther Bürki
Communications Manager
Tel.: +41 44 805 45 63
esther.buerki@implenia.com
The elephants of Zurich Zoo are getting a new home with an impressive wooden roof (rendering: Zurich Zoo/Markus Schietsch Architekten).
Implenia is Switzerland's leading construction and construction services company. Formed in 2006 from the merger between Zschokke and Batigroup, Implenia can look back on more than 140 years of history in the construction industry. The company brings the expertise of its highly skilled Real Estate, Infrastructure Construction and Industrial Construction divisions under the single roof of a nationally and internationally active company. With its integrated business model and specialists operating in all its divisions, Implenia can manage a building project through its entire lifecycle and deliver work that is economical, sustainable, integrated and customer-centric.
Implenia, with its headquarters in Dietlikon near Zurich, employs more than 6,000 people and posted turnover of more than CHF 2.5 billion in 2011. The company is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (IMPN, CH0023868554). More information can be found at www.implenia.com.
