08/14/2024
We are so excited and proud to announce a new partnership working with the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth, Minnesota! Our team was selected to partake in pre-design services for the main building located at the zoo.
Starting with site assessment, our team, along with members from Damon Farber, Emanuelson-Podas and Kimely Horn, visited the zoo to document and assess the conditions of the existing building through photos, videos and measurements.
The next step of the process included a two-day workshop involving zoo staff, City of Duluth’s Parks & Recreation staff, City of Duluth staff, the zoo board and our zoo consultant Felis Consulting. Our goal for the workshop discovery process was to create a shared foundation for the project, that will help us infuse our work with more depth, design with intention towards a shared vision, and build a collaborative relationship along the way.
Our team spent the first day engaging in conversations and listening to the pros and cons of the existing building infrastructure, and envisioning what the main building can become. With all options on the table in these early stages, the main building could be renovated, have a new addition built on, or be reimagined into a whole new structure.
Day two of the workshop included three different activities for zoo staff to think creatively about changing the main building. The group engaged in a visual image exercise, word association exercise and a ‘paper doll’ layout, that gave each participant a set of 2D program blocks to explore space needs and adjacencies.
The design team learned so much about the operations, vision, mission and goals of the zoo working closely with zoo and city staff over the two-day workshop. The next steps of the process will start with concept design iterations to bring to public engagement sessions at the beginning of fall.
We are honored to have been selected to work with the Lake Superior Zoo and the City of Duluth to help envision the next chapter for the 100-year-old zoo.
Clients:
Consultants:
Structural & Civil:
Landscape:
MEP:
Zoo:
