Singapore Zoo attracts more than one million visitors a year. All of them pass through this new entrance plaza, which has four primary components: a portico signalling arrival, a plaza for festival activities, a courtyard with tropical shade trees and reflecting pool, and colonnades to direct pedestrian flow. The buildings are steel-framed structures clad with staggered panels of marine plywood intended to weather over time. The courtyard deck is constructed of Balau sleepers; the same wood is used as column cladding. Roofing is typically lightweight steel. Freestanding masonry walls are clad in split-faced honey-coloured granite.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture