Architecture has long been inspired by the natural world, and with the evolution of manufacturing and building technologies, it can now replicate the natural world. The Polk Penguin Conservation Center at the Detroit Zoo, a 33,000-square-foot facility that opened in April 2016, is the largest penguin conservation center in the world. After teams from the Detroit Zoo traveled to Antarctica to study the species that would live in the new center, they supplied photographs and data to Kahn to design a home fit for these incredible creatures.

Exterior Design

As visitors approach the building, they are immediately transported to the heart of Antarctica. The irregular shape of the building represents tabular, or block-like, icebergs near the South Pole. Sections of blue glass are recessed into the structure to suggest natural ice caves and ice calving, the process of ice breaking apart from a glacier. The entryway passes through a representation of a 25-foot-tall waterfall in a narrow crevasse made of blue glass.

Through biomimicry, or design modeled on nature and natural systems, the exterior is clad in over 6,000 white metallic shingles that insulate the building while repelling heat, a system inspired by penguin feathers.

Interior Habitat

Inside, king, rockhopper, macaroni, gentoo, and chinstrap penguins dive and swim through a 25-foot-deep, 326,000-gallon aquatic area. Visitors can walk through two underwater tunnels as the penguins move around them. Above the waterline, penguins have an Antarctic-inspired space to nest and raise their young. The interior space was designed in collaboration with Jones & Jones Architects and Landscape Architects, along with a team of museum, interpretive, and aquarium design consultants, to ensure every material selected would support the penguins' health and wellbeing.

Engineering and Systems

Lighting was specially designed to promote the penguins' health, providing a wide spectrum of wavelengths, including ultraviolet light and nighttime lighting that can be adjusted to reflect seasonal changes. Advanced engineering systems conserve, filter, and recycle water, maintain clean air, and separate temperatures for public and penguin areas. A custom-designed blow-down system with vacuum air lines, inspired by air systems used in automotive plants, was engineered to clean the habitat.

Mission

The Detroit Zoo is driven to reduce its ecological impact while educating visitors about the effects of climate change. References to the changing environment appear throughout the building's design.