The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has awarded development funding of just over £123,000 for the three year project. The first-round pass means that DZG have up to two years to submit more detailed plans and apply for a full HLF grant of just over £970,000 towards the project. 

DZG lies within a conservation area that includes the 11th century Dudley Castle and is home the world’s largest single collection of Tecton buildings, named after the renowned Modernist architects chosen to design the Zoo in the 1930s and led by Russian-born Berthold Lubetkin.

The Tecton Group were instrumental in bringing modernist architecture to the UK, and this complex survives as the only collection of interrelated Tecton designs in Britain and one of few remaining throughout Europe. 

The scheme, scheduled to begin in 2012, will see the repair, renovation and new interpretation of four of the Tecton structures – Bear Ravine, Front Entrance, Safari Shop and Kiosk One – plus the refurbishment of the region’s only chairlift which next year celebrates its 50th anniversary. The Tecton structures were designed and constructed between 1935 and 1937 using reinforced concrete – a pioneering system at the time.  The £1.15 million will be further boosted by £300,000 of DZG funding to provide a new Welcome Plaza.

The project has been led by Larry Priest here at BPN and the practice is very priviledged to be working with DZG in developing detailed proposals for the repair of four of the modernist Tecton Structures. The buildings are unknown to many but are of worldwide importance and we hope this is the first step in what will ultimately be the repair and conservation of all of the structures at Dudley. Like many of the staff here at BPN, Larry visited the zoo as a young child, as a student of architecture and as an adult with his own children. 

Consultations started in 2008 and within a year all 12 of the zoo’s Modernist structures had received World Monuments Fund status and placed on a watch list alongside Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal, ensuring a global focus on the world’s largest single collection of Tecton buildings. 

DZG have worked very closely with Heritage Lottery Fund, the World Monuments Fund, English Heritage and 20th Century Society throughout the project. Final details are currently being prepared, and subject to the necessary approvals, phase one will start with the chairlift refurb next spring.

In 2012, the zoo will celebrate its 75th anniversary. The news of this funding is some birthday present!

Photo credits:
Architectural images of the Bear Ravine (in colour) and Front Entrance taken from Towers and Tectons: a View From The Hill, by Jill Hitchman