AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE
CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO - CLEVELAND, OHIO
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo master plan proposed replacing the zoo’s existing farm exhibit with a new facility that would exhibit plants and animals from Australia. The result was an eight-acre exhibit featuring three major components—Kookaburra Station, Wallaby Walkabout, and Koala Junction.
A 55-foot high Yagga tree creates a unique setting for children’s interactive play. Other features include:
a nineteenth-century ranch with barns
contact yards
camel rides
demonstrations
a rodeo-style amphitheater
the Wallaby Walkway, where kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos roam freely around visitors
a viewing area for koalas, in both outdoor and indoor display areas
the lorikeet aviary, where guests may feed and interact with free-flying birds
The Australian Adventure is an immersion-style exhibit. Plants, pavement materials, fences, and buildings all were developed thematically to create the “land down under.”
Merit Award, American Society of Landscape Architects - Ohio Chapter
Construction Cost: $10 Million
