Bjarke Ingels to design new panda enclosure at CPH Zoo

New area to be located at the old elephant enclosure

The Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group is bringing its noted design acumen a little closer to home for once, as it is designing a new panda enclosure at Copenhagen Zoo.

Designed in collaboration with the landscape architects Schønher, the new enclosure is expected to be finished sometime in 2018 and be situated where the old elephant enclosure is currently located. Seen from above, the new design will resemble a yin-yang symbol.

The new design was reached in co-operation with zookeepers, zoologists and landscape gardeners in order to reach the best level of functionality. A cafe where guests can sit and watch the animals while having a bite to eat is also part of the design.

“You will be able to sit with the elephants on one side and the pandas on the other,” Bjarke Ingels told Berlingske newspaper.

“And we have lowered the floor so children and adults will be at eye level with the animals.”

READ MORE: Bjarke Ingels to design new football stadium in Greenland

First since Chi Chi
Copenhagen Zoo is now busy contacting potential investors who would like to be part of the project, which is expected to cost 125-150 million kroner.

The zoo is expected to get its first panda bears in about two years as part of a gift from the Chinese government. The zoo briefly had a panda back in 1958 when the panda Chi Chi spent three weeks at Copenhagen Zoo as part of a European tour.

Currently, there are very few zoos in Europe that have panda bears.




  • Becoming a stranger in your own country

    Becoming a stranger in your own country

    Many stories are heard about internationals moving to Denmark for the first time. They face hardships when finding a job, a place to live, or a sense of belonging. But what about Danes coming back home? Holding Danish citizenship doesn’t mean your path home will be smoother. To shed light on what returning Danes are facing, Michael Bach Petersen, Secretary General of Danes Worldwide, unpacks the reality behind moving back

  • EU Foreign Ministers meet in Denmark to strategize a forced Russia-Ukraine peace deal

    EU Foreign Ministers meet in Denmark to strategize a forced Russia-Ukraine peace deal

    Foreign ministers from 11 European countries convened on the Danish island of Bornholm on April 28-29 to discuss Nordic-Baltic security, enhanced Russian sanctions, and a way forward for the fraught peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow

  • How small cubes spark great green opportunities: a Chinese engineer’s entrepreneurial journey in Denmark

    How small cubes spark great green opportunities: a Chinese engineer’s entrepreneurial journey in Denmark

    Hao Yin, CEO of a high-tech start-up TEGnology, shares how he transformed a niche patent into marketable products as an engineer-turned-businessman, after navigating early setbacks. “We can’t just wait for ‘groundbreaking innovations’ and risk missing the market window,” he says. “The key is maximising the potential of existing technologies in the right contexts.”

  • Gangs of Copenhagen

    Gangs of Copenhagen

    While Copenhagen is rated one of the safest cities in the world year after year, it is no stranger to organized crime, which often springs from highly professional syndicates operating from the shadows of the capital. These are the most important criminal groups active in the city

  • “The Danish underworld is now more tied to Scandinavia”

    “The Danish underworld is now more tied to Scandinavia”

    Carsten Norton is the author of several books about crime and gangs in Denmark, a journalist, and a crime specialist for Danish media such as TV 2 and Ekstra Bladet.

  • Right wing parties want nuclear power in Denmark

    Right wing parties want nuclear power in Denmark

    For 40 years, there has been a ban on nuclear power in Denmark. This may change after all right-wing parties in the Danish Parliament have expressed a desire to remove the ban.

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.