Gorilla Kingdom, London Zoo

Client: London Zoo
Architect: Procter and Matthews
Main contractor: Crispin & Borst Ltd
Roofing contractor: Tego Roofing Ltd
Type of works: design, manufacture and supply of Insulator GRP thermally efficient rooflights.

There’s been no monkey business about energy efficiency and climate change at the new home of London Zoo’s gorillas. The roof of the Gorilla Kingdom exhibit has been fitted with Hambleside Danelaw’s ground-breaking Insulator GRP thermally efficient rooflights.

Recognised by the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation for the ‘outstanding innovation’ behind them, the Insulator rooflights incorporate a transparent insulation in the form of an advanced honeycomb technology that allows the maximum possible natural light into a building. This is enjoyed by the gorillas, colobus monkeys, rainforest birds and monitor lizards that share the attraction.

Insulator rooflights are extremely effective in limiting carbon emissions through a building’s heat loss. The Carbon Trust has found that the product is providing a saving on energy consumption of 13.1% in a typical industrial building with a 7,865m² floor area. Hambleside Danelaw estimates that it can also deliver up to 24.2 tonnes of CO₂ savings each year in comparison with a rooflight that complies just within the current building regulation limits.

Commenting on the installation of the Insulator rooflights at Gorilla Kingdom, Robin Jeffery, Hambleside Danelaw’s vice chairman, said: “Charitable organisations like London Zoo and the public sector estate are increasingly setting the pace when it comes to sustainable development and commissioning energy efficient buildings in the fight against climate change. Businesses also need to understand that you can be green and grow, because of the energy costs saved through the specification of insulated building materials.”

Insulator was selected for installation on Gorilla Kingdom by Tego Roofing Ltd. The exhibit’s architect is Procter and Matthews, while the main contractor is Crispin & Borst Ltd. This is the second Insulator rooflight installation at London Zoo.