Penguin Pool
PENGUIN POOL, OUTER CIRCLE NW1
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1225665
- Date first listed:
- 14-Sept-1970
- List Entry Name:
- Penguin Pool
- Statutory Address:
- PENGUIN POOL, OUTER CIRCLE NW1
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2000-04-06
- Reference:
- IOE01/99024/08
- Rights:
- © Mr Dan Woodrow. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1225665
- Date first listed:
- 14-Sept-1970
- List Entry Name:
- Penguin Pool
- Statutory Address 1:
- PENGUIN POOL, OUTER CIRCLE NW1
- Statutory Address 2:
- PENGUIN POOL, REGENT'S PARK NW1
- Statutory Address 3:
- PENGUIN POOL, ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS NW1
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- PENGUIN POOL, OUTER CIRCLE NW1
- Statutory Address:
- PENGUIN POOL, REGENT'S PARK NW1
- Statutory Address:
- PENGUIN POOL, ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS NW1
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City of Westminster (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 28173 83293
Details
TQ 2883 NW ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS
15/3 REGENT'S PARK NW1
14.9.70 CITY OF WESTMINSTER
Penguin Pool
I
Penguin pool. 1934, by Lubetkin and Tecton with Ove Arup as consultant structural engineer to the architects and Felix Samuely as consultant engineer to the contractors, J.L. Kier. The Penguin pool was the second commission Lubetkin and Tecton received from the Zoological Society, followed the same year with work for the Society at Whipsnade. Reinforced concrete; interior surfaces have slate-paved steps, "plastic rubber" (cork chippings, rubber and cement) to flat pool surrounds and exposed concrete finish to ramps. Elliptical pool, with cantilevered interlocking spiral ramps and elliptical enclosure with parapet rising to form framed viewing aperture, canopied at one end. The 2 interlocking but independant ramps are cantilevered over 14.021 metres without intermediate support, their depth ranging from 152 mm to only 76mm. At the head of one of the ramps is a glass fronted diving tank. The concrete of the ramps was designed to be permanently wetted by a revolving fountain. A key symbol of British (and International) Modern Movement architecture and of notable structural and technical virtuosity for its time, the design pursues the behaviourist and environmental research programme of the Gorilla House q.v. as the basis for
creating a dynamic and almost abstract architectural showcase for the display of
the penguins' antics.
Lubetkin and Tecton, Architecture and Social Responsibility: Peter Coe and Malcolm Reading.
Listing NGR: TQ2817383293
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 207753
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Coe, P, Reading, M, Lubetkin and Tecton Architecture and Social Commitment, (1981)
Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 17 Greater London
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 04-Jul-2026 at 04:35:11.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.