PANDA HABITAT

The vision To create an experience that is designed to transfer the visitors to another reality the moment they arrive. Magical journey through a high tech Bamboo forest like landscape & Mountains hills that mimics the natural habitat for pandas homeland Wolong Reserve is one of the most important nature districts that hosts about 150 wild individuals of highly endangered giant pandas as well as many other endangered species The design concept is based on the idea of home shape building that mimics the feeling of the mountain. As well as for the interior look & feel to have a separate level for the pandas to keep their private nature. Project Overview -Panda Enclosure & Touristic Viewing Facility to accommodate two adult pandas at a site location within Al Khor zoo park, Qatar. -The state-of-the-art facility will carefully balance the needs of the Pandas with a wider visitor experience and offering. The panda enclosure is therefore envisaged to be one component of a wider visitor experience to the Al Khor zoo Park, which together will form a prominent new tourism and leisure destination -Central to the design of the site is to create a sense of discovery and a strong identity, which visitors feel and embrace from approaching the site. -Through the use of technology, it is envisaged a strong learning and educational narrative can be integrated into the building and surround landscape. Targeting the following Audiences: -International Tourism -Domestic Tourism -Conservation and Zoology industry experts. -School and social groups The project can be separated into two main zones: Panda Zone: The panda enclosures sizes been defined based on the technical recommendations (as per the Chinese guidelines). It is a hypogenous zone below ground level for best climate control and has indoor gardens mimicking the Pandas natural habitat. The enclosures are divided into two separate zones, one for male and one for female with a controlled connection provided for the mating season. The two zones are separated by a service block that can serve both gardens. -Visitors zone: -The visitor’s zone includes: -Main visitor information area and gallery -Gift shop -Cafeteria -Admin offices In addition to the above, viewing bridges on the upper level are provided in order for the visitors to be able to view the pandas without disturbing them. A universal sky lit roof is enclosing the components of the building: The Roof creates the shell enclosure required in a modern way with integrated skylights to maximize natural light. As for the interior look & feel also the mountain roof adds more to the overall experience, separating specific level for the pandas to keep their private nature as well as separating the space into male area and female area Service Zone: The building service zone will be dedicated for the well-being services of the Pandas such as clinics, preparatory meal area; mating season room; rest rooms, etc… These areas will be defined during the development of the project.