Bronx Zoo Lion House Goes Green as Cockroaches, Crocs Move In
The Lion House at the Bronx Zoo in New York is shown in its original state in this circa 1903 photo. The new exhibit “Madagascar!” will be on display at the restored Lion House starting June 20.
A springy, rubberized floor made from recycled plastic and used tires cushions my steps as I move from a leafy jungle to a spiny forest at “Madagascar!” — the new exhibit in the restored 1903 Lion House at New York’s Bronx Zoo.
Waiting inside are 100,000 (or so) hissing cockroaches, Nile crocodiles and, more adorable, furry, long-tailed lemurs.
The historic structure, designed by Heins & La Farge as part of the zoo’s original Astor Court campus, represented state-of- the-art zoo design at the turn of the 20th century. The lions could stroll through a passageway connecting their indoor and outdoor cages — a true innovation at the time.
Some two decades ago, the lions were relocated so they could roam more freely in a natural-looking setting, leaving the building vacant — until now.
Restored by FXFowle Architects of New York, the Lion House retains its ornate charms — the limestone and brick facade, the stately Ionic columns, the copper roof and carved heads of jungle cats on the terra-cotta cornices — while incorporating some very 21st-century ideas for green design.
The architects deepened and widened the basement to hide the building’s infrastructure — like the geothermal wells that eliminate the need for a cooling tower and the system that recirculates the “gray water” that goes down the drain in bathroom sinks. Now it’s used to water the many plants in the exhibit, reducing consumption by 49 percent.
Pillowed plastic skylights maximize daylight and also control the interior temperature.
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