Penguin Pool | |
---|---|
Type | House |
Location | London Zoo, Regent's Park, London |
Coordinates | 51°32′02″N 0°09′13″W / 51.534°N 0.1535°W |
Built | 1934 |
Architect | Berthold Lubetkin, Tecton Group |
Architectural style(s) | International Modernist |
Governing body | Zoological Society of London |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | Penguin Pool, Zoological Gardens, London NW1 |
Designated | 14 September 1970 |
Reference no. | 1225665 |
The Penguin Pool at London Zoo, Regent's Park is a penguin enclosure designed in the International Modernist style by Berthold Lubetkin and the Tecton Group. Constructed in 1934, Historic England describe it as "a key symbol of British (and International) Modern Movement architecture". The pool housed the zoo's collection of penguins for 70 years. Changing attitudes to keeping animals in captivity, and concerns regarding the suitability of the structure for penguin well-being, saw the pool's closure in 2004 and its subsequent replacement by Penguin Beach. After a period of non-use, during which Lubetkin's daughter called for the structure to be "blown to smithereens", the pool was converted into a water feature. It is a Grade I listed building.