Wilhelma redesign of elephant enclosure Wilhelma, zoological botanical garden, Stuttgart

The outdoor area will be redesigned into an attractive and new habitat for the elephants and rhinos. A soft terrain surface and fencing made of near-natural designed walls give the enclosure an attractive and new animal-friendly appearance. The new integrated watering hole provides a variety of areas for the animals. The new enclosure has been rounded off with a planting of different grass communities, integrating it into the context of Wilhelma's design.

A new landscaped design replaces the structurally dominant forms of the old outdoor enclosure in the original facility
. The former barrier ditch was filled in and integrated into the area of the new enclosure.

Walls made of travertine conglomerate, developed specifically for the project, form the new boundaries of the enclosure. The deliberately placed landscape windows open up the view of the enclosure and the impressive animals in the newly created elephant landscape.
Steel girders with swinging cables delineate the other areas. The transition to the neighbouring rhinoceros enclosure is formed by a serial stone setting of travertine boulders. The design expression of the enclosure is derived from the landscape of the savannah, the country of origin of the animals. The beige stone materials harmonize with the soft, sand-colored surfaces to form a homogeneous overall picture.
Existing umbrella-shaped tree solitaires in the periphery of the facility are integrated into the new concept and supplemented by several new umbrella trees. Bamboo and grass plantings embed the new elephant enclosure into its surroundings.

The interior of the enclosure features mostly soft surfaces that allow the elephants to move around comfortably. In addition to sandy areas, a clay mud pool and two pools with replaceable substrate in particular provide near-natural habitat for the animals.

A new elephant bath is located directly below the new visitor grandstand. The seating steps made of travertine blocks provide an attractive lounge area and are ideal observation points on the enclosure and the elephants. Stone edges made of travertine crust slabs structure the area in the enclosure and create a relief-like accentuation in the terrain surface and strengthen the characteristic and identity of the facility.

In the central area of the facility, large scrub trees are grouped as a grove of trees. They are a point of attraction for the elephants and form a spatial structure in the enclosure.