Auckland Zoo – South East Asian Precinct 2021-2022

About the project

Auckland Zoo is a not-for-profit organisation focused on conserving wildlife and wild places. In December 2022 the zoo is celebrating its centenary, and the upgrade and redesign of the South-East Asian precinct (SEAP) is to serve the animals, zoo patrons, and the broader communities for at least the next 50 years. The Zoo continues to create great experiences for those that visit and prides itself on improving facilities to enhance animal welfare.

SRS Group was subcontracted to work on several projects at Auckland Zoo and these projects encapsulated SRS’s skilled divisions perfectly with both the fabrication and rigging teams cohesively working together to create a snaking boardwalk balustrade and swamp forest green wall trellis systems; complex and highly engineered tiger back of house habitat with new actuated door system; rotating tiger doors for the tiger bridges; plus SRS designed and installed a new deployment and retrieval system for the High Canopy feeder systems that the primates enjoy while foraging for food.

This project was expansive and utilised all the project team’s knowledge and skill from technical engineering, CAD design, to the manufacture and installation. SRS’s strong relationship with Ronstan Australia is evident with the extensive use of Carl Stahl’s tensile X-Tend mesh (the only mesh that is ETA certified), additionally, SRS was supported by their suppliers around the country to supply only the best quality products and finishes with warranties and guarantees for our skilled teams to fabricate and rig the final products.

SRS was engaged as a sub-contractor to NZ Strong Group as the Head contractor for the principal client Auckland Zoo (Tataki Auckland Unlimited) for the SEAP.

Total Project Value: above $1.5 million

Testimonial

“I could not be more pleased to provide a Letter of Recommendation for the SRS and its director, Luke Tempest. As Auckland Zoo’s Head of Zoo Environment, Design & Construction I am responsible for our capital design and construction projects, asset and facility management, horticulture, security and the implementation of sustainable practices that promote and reflect the zoo’s mission and core values. A part of my role includes serving as Project Director for delivery of the $60 million renewal of the zoo’s South East Asian Precinct (SEAP) that shall serve zoo staff and the broader community for the next 50 years. In this role, I have worked closely with SRS and Luke Tempest.

“I commend SRS for their focus on provision of excellent, expert and timely service to deliver challenging animal care facilities and complex rigging and speciality equipment. SRS has consistently provided me and my multi-disciplined, and multi-stakeholder teams with a level of service that reflects clarity of thought, design innovation and attention to the operational needs of the zoo. The SRS team is generous with their time and resources, clear in their communications, professional in their delivery of work output and innovative in their approach to design solutions as well as the methods of achieving those solutions. SRS has been a team player; exceptional at creating and maintaining relationships with the project team, a complex set of zoo staff, design professionals and, importantly, with the general contractor.

“I wholeheartedly, and without reservations of any kind, recommend SRS and Luke Tempest”

Monica Lake, Head of Zoo Environment, Design and Construction

SRS is now contracted to Auckland Zoo directly as their rigging & maintenance support to the inhouse teams over all areas of the Zoo.

Learn more about our Auckland Zoo projects below.

Our Auckland Zoo Projects

SRS Group was contracted to work on a wide range of projects throughout Auckland Zoo. Auckland Zoo describes the South East Asia Jungle Track as “the most ambitious project in our 100-year history” and we were delighted to be a part of this amazing project. You can read more about the South East Asia Jungle Track project on the Auckland Zoo website and learn more about the individual projects that SRS was involved with below: