Share thisThe design for two new buildings focuses on efficiency and flexibility, improving life for lemurs, keepers, and researchers.
Life has improved dramatically for 140 diurnal lemurs and the husbandry staff and researchers who care for and study them as a result of two new state-of-the-art facilities at the Duke Lemur Center (DLC), a refuge owned by Duke University that houses the world’s largest collection of lemurs outside of their native Madagascar.
Prior to the completion of its new structures, the DLC, a world renowned sanctuary tasked with non-invasive research and conservation of lemurs and other prosimians, had outdated and undersized, though operational, facilities. As part of a $10.4 million project, Lord, Aeck & Sargent developed a long-term master plan for the DLC and designed the new lemur facilities, both of which have earned LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The single-story, heated facilities comprise: the Releasable Building, which houses 60 lemurs allowed to free-range—when weather permits—in the DLC’s fenced 69-acre Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified Duke Forest; and a Semi-Releasable Building, which houses 80 lemurs, a mix of geriatric and other lemurs who for physical, behavioral, or social reasons have limited free-ranging capacity. This building is also designed with research facilitation in mind.
The laboratory in the Releasable Building is a dry lab used by DLC researchers to record their observations of the free-ranging lemurs. The Semi-Releasable Building has a wet lab with a fume hood, chemical storage, and ventilation to support biological and chemical analysis. The Semi- Releasable Building’s core also houses two hibernation rooms currently intended for hibernation studies in the DLC’s dwarf lemur population.
Efficient Designs
When the architectural team began working with the DLC staff, we learned how inefficient and time-intensive it was for the keepers to feed, care, and clean up after the lemurs. The new buildings needed to streamline these activities, so we designed both with animal housing wings radiating from a central core area that houses common resources such as a food prep kitchen for the keepers to prepare and portion food, a veterinary exam room, a laboratory, a bathroom with shower, and storage spaces for animal enrichment items and researchers’ equipment. Each wing houses 20 lemurs along with dedicated storage for cleaning and keeper supplies. Sanitation in each wing is self-contained to promote the best practices of hygiene.
Developing a program for the new facilities at the Duke Lemur Center began with in-depth discussions with the animal care staff from maintenance staff to veterinarians. Lord, Aeck & Sargent staff shadowed keepers to understand the daily routines. As it evolved, the program that developed was as much about procedures (washing, feeding, watering, examining) as it was about space.