September
September began where August left off. We were busy applying the finishing touches to the savannah and giraffe areas ready for handing over to the zoo.
The rendering team have been busy too, doing their stuff on the meerkat building, before moving on to the aardvark’s house. The themer was back on site creating walls in the mixed taxa area. They look fantastic.
Have you ever been in close proximity to a vulture? They are pretty big to say the least. The posts in the vulture aviary are now in position. As you might imagine, they’re quite tall at around 12 metres high.
This year’s apprentices have recently joined us. You should have seen their faces when, on their very first day, we told them they were having a day out at the zoo. Perhaps not quite what they had in mind, but nevertheless, they had an interesting time on site with us.
In last month’s diary we told you about the funky concrete floor we’re installing. This is coming along nicely, currently winding its way from the meerkats and down towards the rhinos. We do hope you’ll appreciate our handiwork.
We alluded to it earlier and are delighted to say that on Friday the 20th we officially handed the savannah and giraffe areas over to the zoo. This, the first phase to be handed over, is 3 months ahead of the overall project completion.
However, as you’ll appreciate, we’re not resting on our laurels. Our focus has now switched to 4 buildings that we’d like to hand over during October. A new power supply will be installed to the site mid-month, then it will be a case of commissioning, snagging and cleaning…
Before we sign off, it’s time for a confession. You see, for the past few months, we’ve been keeping a little secret under our safari hats. We’re also working with Chester Zoo on another exciting new development, where you’ll be able to stay overnight at the zoo. It will be a collection of 51 environmentally-friendly luxury lodges, designed to provide an up-close, immersive overnight wildlife experience.
We are working with the Zoo’s specialist contractor, building the base areas for each lodge, including drainage and infrastructure. We are also constructing a two storey welcome building, which will include a restaurant and bar area. The building is coming along nicely, the steel frames are up, lift shafts in place and the stair case in position.
We’ll let you know how we’re getting on with the overnight stays and Heart of Africa in our next instalment.
Until next time…
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