ZOO Veterinary Clinic

Ljubljana ZOO is planning the construction of a veterinary clinic for comprehensive care of all animals. The clinic will support diagnostics, treatment, surgery, and laboratory analyses, and will be equipped with facilities for veterinarians, caretakers, and technical staff.

As part of the broader ZOO service area, the clinic will facilitate collaboration between specialists, significantly enhance research capacity, strengthen emergency preparedness, and consistently uphold the highest ethical standards of animal care for all species.

The veterinary clinic is located in the back-of-house area of the ZOO, accessible only to staff and authorized personnel, with a connection to Večna Pot Road for deliveries and removals.

This area will centralize warehouses, workshops, a kitchen, and the clinic, which are currently scattered across the ZOO, hindering efficient operations. Arranged as pavilions within the forest, the veterinary clinic is linked to the quarantine zone, has separate access, is farthest from visitor routes, and is buffered from the technical area by greenery, allowing for future expansion and enlargement of the outdoor quarantine enclosure.

The design aims to integrate the building as subtly as possible into the surrounding forest environment, keeping it minimally visible from Večna Pot Road. It deliberately avoids prominent vertical volumes and uses natural materials that act as camouflage within the forest, including massive rammed earth walls.

Due to the sloping terrain, the building can be partially embedded, reducing visual impact while allowing separate access from the south to the partially buried basement and from the north directly to the ground floor.

The base of the building houses the clinic with all service areas, topped by a lightweight pavilion for supplementary programs such as guest veterinarian and caretaker accommodations, offices, a conference room with meeting facilities, and a PCR laboratory, with access from the upper level.

The veterinary clinic includes two types of animal spaces – quarantine and hospital/recovery areas. Both programs are framed by massive rammed-earth walls that cut into the terrain, integrating the clinic into the surroundings. The walls also shape interior and exterior spaces and ensure clear separation between the quarantine, hospital, and clinical areas.