The Sosnowiec Exotarium has been in operation for almost a year. Formally, it is an Environmental Education Centre, a place where elements of an exotic plant and animal garden are combined.
The glass body of the Exotarium was designed by architects from the R’House studio, Malinowski Design Urban & Landscape and ARC2 Design Factory. Animal husbandry specialists were also involved in the design work.
The construction of the Exotarium is part of a larger plan to revitalise the Przemsza and Brynica Valley area in Sosnowiec. The new facility is to become its showpiece, attracting residents and tourists. The building is a place that offers the possibility of communing with the luscious greenery of exotic plants and contact with animals all year round. Visitors can take part in workshops or educational training sessions aimed at spreading knowledge of ecology and the need to protect the environment.
The Exotarium was built on the site of a place with a similar function several decades ago. The interior of the new building is divided into several levels. The lowest (-1) houses the aquaria and terrariums. At ground level, a palm house and zones that reflect the specific characteristics of the Mediterranean climate have been built. A desert zone and a tropical zone have also been created there. The upper floors are offices and training rooms. There is also a cinema and a café in the building.
Visitors start their tour of the facility from level -1. In the aquaria, visitors can see native fish species such as pike, bream and vetiver, as well as fish from other parts of the world. Examples of the latter are the freshwater stingray, pacu piranha or Amazonian ghost. In the terrariums, on the other hand, you can see examples of reptiles – the Chinese snake, the pond turtle or invertebrates such as the topic spider, the striped tiger and a group of birds. The next stage of the tour is the palm house.
The educational path of the palm house leads from the temperate zone with Mediterranean plants. In addition to plants, there are terrariums with Cuban iguanas, spiny-tailed varans, steppe turtles and nine-banded armadillos. Next is the desert zone with cacti, succulents and Mexican helodermas. The last is the tropical zone with plants of the rainforest zone.
photos: Bartosz Makowski – www.makowski.co
architecture design: ARC2 / R’HOUSE
authors: Renata Gajer-Hackemer (R’HOUSE), Robert Budny (R’HOUSE), Mariusz Szlachcic (ArC2)
collaboration: Mikołaj Krawiec
landscape architecture: Dariusz Malinowski
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