Giraffe House And Hippopotamus House On The Cotton Terraces

The Giraffe House and Hippopotamus House, located on the Cotton Terraces in Regent's Park, were built around 1836 by Decimus Burton for the Zoological Society and have since been restored. The buildings are constructed of stock brick and feature slate roofs. The central pavilion, designed for giraffes, is accompanied by a lower east wing that originally served as the hippopotamus house, while the west wing is a matching addition, likely by Salvin. Each pavilion is a single storey with three bays. The central pavilion has tall stable doors with semi-circular arches and a linking impost string, while the flanking pavilions also feature similar stable doors. The central pavilion is topped with pediment gable ends and has deep bracketed eaves. The flanking pavilions include a cornice band and a blocking course. Decimus Burton was responsible for landscaping the original gardens and designing the zoo buildings for the Society between 1826 and 1841, drawing influence from the Paris Jardin des Plantes.