Jungola — Wildlands Zoo
Themed façades and rockwork designed to live alongside animals and their keepers, with every surface checked for safety and cleaning.
- Site
- Wildlands Zoo, Emmen
- Scope
- Façades, rockwork
- Signature
- Animal-safe surfaces
- Constraint
- Working next to live enclosures
The diary
The rock exists in steel long before it exists in stone. 01Phase 1Setting out and steelwork
Every anchor point is agreed with the zoo's technical team before welding: nothing may become a climbing aid or an escape route.
Shotcrete is sprayed and shaped in the same movement. 02Phase 2Shotcrete
Our nozzlemen spray the shell in continuous passes, following the modelled surfaces. Thickness, reinforcement and drainage are controlled as the shape grows.
Texture is cut by hand, against the clock of the setting concrete. 03Phase 3Carving, wet
Textures are carved without sharp edges or trap gaps, and with cleaning access in mind.
Buildings grow out of the rock, not in front of it. 04Phase 4Façades and details
Themed buildings, timber, plaster and ironwork are built into the same surface, so the architecture and the rock read as one set rather than as decor placed against a backdrop.
Water is tested full-scale before a single coat of paint. 05Phase 5Water, planting and integration
Basins, waterfalls and submerged structures are tested and adjusted, then planting is threaded into pockets left in the rock so vegetation and stone age together.
The last layer is the one that decides whether it looks real. 06Phase 6Painting and handover
Only coatings approved for animal contact are used, applied during closed hours.
