Repair works at Dudley Zoo Available to Purchase

Dudley Zoo was built between 1936 and 1937, and the 12 listed reinforced-concrete structures are some of the most important modern movement buildings in the UK. Four of the structures have been recently repaired with the help of a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. All were in a poor condition, mainly owing to corrosion of the reinforcement. A conservation-based approach was adopted with traditional concrete used for the majority of the repairs. Carbon fibre sheets were added locally to stiffen a large cantilevered viewing platform. A key part of the success of the project has been the very close collaboration among the client, architect and structural engineer, along with regular meetings with English Heritage (now Historic England) and the Twentieth Century Society. An area of one structure has been set aside for tests by Historic England to monitor the performance of the different methods of repair.