Fordingbridge designed Reptile & Amphibian House at London Zoo wins big at the BIAZA awards!

Each year the BIAZA Awards celebrate the very best welfare, education, conservation and habitat initiatives across the zoo world and we’re beyond proud to announce that our Secret Life of Reptiles & Amphibians building for London Zoo WON for Best Habitat…

Over the years we’ve been approached to design and build numerous interesting buildings to house some of the world’s most endangered animals at zoos across the UK. Our buildings currently house everything from hundreds of butterfly species at Whipsnade Zoo to a London Zoo’s colony of Colobus Monkeys!

Each of these briefs comes with significant challenges and our Fordingbridge designed and installed Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians House at London Zoo was right up there in terms of how ambitious it was:

• Situated in a prime spot at the zoo’s central hub the new Secret Life of Reptiles and Amphibians provides housing to over 33 of the world’s rarest and most endangered species – from the snake-eating King Cobra to the world’s largest amphibian – the Chinese Giant Salamander
• The ambitious build houses 11 different climate-controlled zones to promote animal wellbeing and enable visitors to engage in an immersive educational tour spanning the dense rainforests of South America to the mountain jungles of Asia
• A significant part of the brief was to bring visitors closer to London Zoo’s world leading research and conservation work and the building does this with numerous open labs, research and breeding rooms enabling visitors to see x rays, anti-venom stores and scientists at work at close quarters
• Importantly the building also sets a high bar in terms of sustainability. It is clad in sustainably sourced timber, equipped with energy efficient lighting and superior insulation, and covered by a sedum roof that not only looks beautiful but also removes CO₂ from the atmosphere and provides wild insects outside the building with an additional habitat

Each of these distinctive and carefully thought through features helped the building win Best Habitat at the 2025 BIAZA (British & Irish Association of Zoos & Aquariums) awards seeing off tough competition from Hertford Zoo’s stunning Gibbon’s ‘Songs of the Forest’ building and Chester Zoo’s new Snow Leopard’s enclosure.

To find out more about our fascinating and rewarding work with zoos visit our website. And if you’re wanting to see what imaginative solutions we can come up with for a challenging brief you have, get in touch with our expert and friendly team today!

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