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Latitude: 51.534 / 51°32'2"N
Longitude: -0.1535 / 0°9'12"W
OS Eastings: 528173
OS Northings: 183293
OS Grid: TQ281832
Mapcode National: GBR 94.Q8
Mapcode Global: VHGQS.9P7W
Entry Name: Penguin Pool
Listing Date: 14 September 1970
Grade: I
Source: Historic England
Source ID: 1225665
English Heritage Legacy ID: 207753
Location: Westminster, London, NW1
County: London
District: City of Westminster
Electoral Ward/Division: Regent's Park
Built-Up Area: City of Westminster
Traditional County: Middlesex
Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Greater London
Church of England Parish: St Marylebone
Church of England Diocese: London
TQ 2883 NW ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS
15/3 REGENT'S PARK NW1
14.9.70 CITY OF WESTMINSTER
Penguin Pool
I
Penguin pool. 1934, by Lubetkin and Tecton with Ove Arup as consultant structural engineer to the architects and Felix Samuely as consultant engineer to the contractors, J.L. Kier. The Penguin pool was the second commission Lubetkin and Tecton received from the Zoological Society, followed the same year with work for the Society at Whipsnade. Reinforced concrete; interior surfaces have slate-paved steps, "plastic rubber" (cork chippings, rubber and cement) to flat pool surrounds and exposed concrete finish to ramps. Elliptical pool, with cantilevered interlocking spiral ramps and elliptical enclosure with parapet rising to form framed viewing aperture, canopied at one end. The 2 interlocking but independant ramps are cantilevered over 14.021 metres without intermediate support, their depth ranging from 152 mm to only 76mm. At the head of one of the ramps is a glass fronted diving tank. The concrete of the ramps was designed to be permanently wetted by a revolving fountain. A key symbol of British (and International) Modern Movement architecture and of notable structural and technical virtuosity for its time, the design pursues the behaviourist and environmental research programme of the Gorilla House q.v. as the basis for
creating a dynamic and almost abstract architectural showcase for the display of
the penguins' antics.
Lubetkin and Tecton, Architecture and Social Responsibility: Peter Coe and Malcolm Reading.
Listing NGR: TQ2817383293
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