Frankfurt Zoo: Master Plan Moves into Next Phase

(eap) Frankfurt Zoo is continuing to advance the implementation of its master plan “Zookunft2030+”. In the coming years, three large areas of Germany’s second-oldest zoo are to be comprehensively redesigned. The first step will be the savannah landscape “Serengeti”. At the beginning of April, the responsible architects and specialist planners for the area were selected as part of a tendering procedure, who will now begin construction planning.

The master plan was already presented by Dr. Ina Hartwig in September 2024, Head of the Department of Culture and Science of the City of Frankfurt, and Zoo Director Dr. Christina Geiger (see EAP News of 15 Oct 2024). In three phases, Frankfurt Zoo is set to be modernized and prepared for the future. By 2039, an African savannah area as well as a rainforest area and a large facility for species from South America will be created on more than half of the zoo grounds. The redesigned animal houses and outdoor enclosures are planned to have a close conceptual and design-related connection to the project areas of the Frankfurt Zoological Society (ZGF) in Africa and South America and thus illustrate species conservation in the zoo as well as in the countries of origin of the zoo animals.

The contract for the object planning of buildings and outdoor facilities was awarded to dan pearlman Experience Architecture from Berlin. The company, which specializes in zoo planning, had already been commissioned to prepare the master plan in a previous procedure. It is now also taking over the coordination of the multidisciplinary team, which includes specialist planners for fire protection, structural engineering and various technical disciplines, among others.

The aim of the planning phase that has now begun is the preparation of a construction and financing proposal for the first construction phase – the approximately 2.4-hectare Serengeti area, which is to be designed as a landscape for animals of the African savannah from giraffe to black rhinoceros. The completion of this first area is planned for 2033. In a second phase, the Lomami area will follow, representing the tropical African rainforest. The final phase of the measure will focus on the “Manú” area in the northeast of the zoo grounds, in which species from South America are to be seen in future. Zoo operations are expected to continue during all construction phases. ■