Chimps Breeding Colony the Gorilla House
CHIMPS BREEDING COLONY, ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS 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:
- 1357402
- Date first listed:
- 14-Sept-1970
- List Entry Name:
- Chimps Breeding Colony the Gorilla House
- Statutory Address:
- CHIMPS BREEDING COLONY, ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS NW1
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-05-18
- Reference:
- IOE01/12274/35
- Rights:
- © Mr Anthony Rau. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1357402
- Date first listed:
- 14-Sept-1970
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 17-Sept-1970
- List Entry Name:
- Chimps Breeding Colony the Gorilla House
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHIMPS BREEDING COLONY, ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS NW1
- Statutory Address 2:
- THE GORILLA HOUSE, OUTER CIRCLE NW1
- Statutory Address 3:
- THE GORILLA HOUSE, REGENT'S PARK NW1
- Statutory Address 4:
- THE GORILLA HOUSE, 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:
- CHIMPS BREEDING COLONY, ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS NW1
- Statutory Address:
- THE GORILLA HOUSE, OUTER CIRCLE NW1
- Statutory Address:
- THE GORILLA HOUSE, REGENT'S PARK NW1
- Statutory Address:
- THE GORILLA HOUSE, 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 28094 83571
Details
TQ 2883 NW CITY OF WESTMINSTER ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS 6/3 REGENT'S PARK NW1 14.9.70 The Gorilla House (Chimps Breeding Colony) - I Gorilla House. 1932 - 33, by Lubetkin and Tecton with Ove Arup, their first significant commission and their first zoo building for the Zoological Society. Reinforced 4" concrete,steel cage bars, light, insulated panel, revolving screen and sliding glass inner cage windows; asphalted flat roof. Circular plan form governs design which consists of drum with an open cage occupying half the circle and permanent cage with clerestory light to the other half, with entrance and exit swept wings integral to the composition. In winter,the revolving insulated screen closes the open cage, provides sheltered viewing space for the public and allows climatic control with sliding glass windows rising in the dividing wall and air conditioning simulating Congo conditions. The revolving insulated panel screen(housed in summer in the permanent half of the drum) pivots centrally upon ball bearings in a solid steel column and is supported at the outer edge by rollers moving along a steel channel on the upper perimeter. The permanent cage has a small basin and fountain. Seminal Modern Movement building in Britain and the first built application of the highly technical, quasi scientific Tecton research approach to a complex brief producing an uncompromisingly modern design distinguished by a dynamic compositional rhythm over-riding functionalism. Lubetkin and Tecton, Architecture and Social Commitment; Peter Coe and Malcolm Reading.
Listing NGR: TQ2809483571
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 207749
- 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 11-Jun-2026 at 14:37:51.
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.