Monarto Safari Park Visitor Centre
The Monarto Safari Park Visitor Centre provides a world class destination and embodies Zoo’s SA holistic goals in connecting people with nature through education. The brief was to provide a visitor experience and revitalised entry to the world’s largest open-range zoo with a café, retail, seminar & exhibition spaces, play, event facilities and car parking.
The landscape wraps around an intertwining ribbon like built form, and converges within the central heart, reflecting a combination of Indigenous and African cultures and their inherent connection with the land, plants and animals.
The central heart is the communal gathering point, where a series of landscaped courtyards separated by extensive planting facilitates spaces for visitors to orientate themselves and provide a moment of anticipation before embarking on their Zoo adventure.
The southern amphitheatre and lawn provide unobstructed views and foster a sense of connection to place. The amphitheatre creates outdoor learning, socialisation, recreation opportunities and the facilitation of events. Adjacent to the café, the shaded amphitheatre creates an informal seating edge, overlooks the playspace and offers parents ease of supervision.
The nature play is nestled adjacent to a pocket of Mallee trees, with all abilities access to the creative sand and water play. New shade trees are situated around the active and challenging swings, climbing and sliding experiences, and elevated water misters cool the space.
The new centre has enabled the Zoo to share important conservation and cultural stories, creating a platform for education and encouraging visitors to leave as Monarto Zoo ambassadors. It has also allowed the Zoo to cater to an additional 55,000 visitors per year and is an outstanding example of how considered and sympathetic design can lift the profile of an important not-for-profit organisation and serve the broader community of South Australia.
Similar projects: Colobus Sky Trail, Children’s Zoo, Nature’s Playround