Sea Lion Pools At Dudley Zoo

PLAN: The pools and their ancillary structures are strongly symmetrical on plan, the whole designed to sit within the castle moat, and therefore echoing its curving shape and narrow depth. The pools are elongated teardrop shapes, running east-west from either side of a bridge giving access to the castle beyond from the restaurant immediately to the north of the enclosure; to the rear are platforms and sleeping areas, following the contours of the back of the moat.

MATERIALS: Reinforced concrete, with rubble stone for the retaining walls to the rear of the enclosure and the bridge passing over the junction between the two pools.

EXTERIOR: The enclosure consists primarily of the two curving teardrop-shaped pools, which are joined at their narrowest point; this point is bridged by a stone-built structure with a single round-arched opening, allowing access to the castle beyond.

To the north the public viewing area has two rectangular balconies which project slightly over the edge of each of the pools (now not accessible to the public, one partially removed). These had the ingenious parapet designed by Tecton for all of the larger animal enclosures at Dudley Zoo: the low wall has its coping raised on elliptical-section steel struts, giving adults a raised surface on which to lean, and allowing children to view the animals without being lifted up.

To the south, set against the retaining wall of the rear of the enclosure, behind the pools, a series of curving and projecting platforms reached by sloping ramps allows the animals space in which to rest, and built under them are simple rectangular sleeping areas, each with a series of square openings.