Wed, Apr 24
|UBC Robson Square
SEABC Presentation: Design for Elephants
Asian elephants are among the largest living land animals. At the Oregon Zoo, the Elephant Lands habitat was designed around the social structure of elephants. Throughout the habitat, feeding stations, mud wallows and water features encourage the elephants to be active 14-16 hours a day.
Time & Location
Apr 24, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
UBC Robson Square, 800 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2E7, Canada
About the event
Equilibrium Engineers served as the Structural Engineer of Record for Elephant Lands at the Oregon Zoo, a project involving the re-purposing of 6.5 acres of the zoo property and complete replacement of the existing elephant habitat. The project included 5,500 square meters (60,000 square feet) of new buildings consisting of an elephant management building, indoor viewing building, life support facility, rest room facility, and interpretive kiosks. As part of the project, the Zoo Train had to be re-routed, requiring a new elevated structural steel loop trestle. The project included the first permitted use of CLT in a structure in Oregon. Between the elephants, train, CLT and numerous site constraints, Equilibrium Engineers had to navigate and solve many problems that they had never encountered before, making this project a significant achievement for their small firm and reminding structural engineering is truly a creative profession.