Elephant and Giraffe House at Bristol Zoo

Elephant and Giraffe House. Built in 1872, and attributed to the architect Charles Hansom. Both the 1964 brick extension to the north and the C21 gorilla enclosure inserted into the interior are excluded from the listing.

MATERIALS: constructed of randomly coursed Brandon Hill Grit rubble stone with limestone dressings. The roof is covered in alternating bands of plain and scalloped clay tiles.

PLAN: much altered, although the original through passage plan from west to east, with enclosures to the south side is legible in the external detailing.

EXTERIOR: built in a Tudor Gothic Revival style, the façades of the building are articulated as a two-storey building with attic, beneath a cross-gabled roof with overhanging eaves. The west elevation comprises a paired gable arrangement, each with an attic window, two windows to the first floor, and a tall doorway to the ground floor. The wider doorway to the left-hand bay forms the entrance to the through passage with an opposing doorway to the east elevation. The east elevation has a pair of half dormers rather than gables, and a taking-in door at attic level of the right-hand bay. The south elevation reflects the original division of the animal house. The wide left-hand bay has a central wide doorway for the elephant, with a window above, and triangular roof dormers with trefoil shaped lights to the pitched roof. The right-hand gabled bay has a two-storey doorway for the giraffe with a paired window above.

The gabled and pitched roof of the north elevation is extant but the wall beneath has been removed to accommodate later extension.

INTERIOR: much altered.

Pursuant to s1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’) it is declared that the C21 gorilla enclosure inserted into the interior of the building is not of special architectural or historic interest, however any works which have the potential to affect the character of the listed building as a building of special architectural or historic interest may still require LBC and this is a matter for the LPA to determine.