.......... In recent years there has been much (re)built in Rotterdam Zoo. For the designers it was and is every time a task to find a good synthesis between the desire to preserve the (National) monumental character of the old part of the zoo and the need for new and old buildings and animal housing to provide optimal animal welfare and also that an efficient operation of our business is ensured. Moreover, the Rotterdam Zoo requires a designer who is capable to create buildings that "fit" the zoo perfectly, the corresponding animals and the landscape. The most recent and in my eyes very successful example of such a building is the new Savannah House, where the giraffes of zoo are housed. Menno Lam of LAM architects designed, using almost exclusively natural materials, a highly energy efficient, an exceptionally beautiful African sounding building. The building which not only houses the group of animals, that have been decades of the logo Rotterdam Zoo, is also a great eye catcher for both the approximately 1.6 million visitors who annually visit the zoo as well as for the many thousands of railway passengers who daily pass by. Already many call the new Savannah House an architectural highlight within the zoo ........'

Ton Dorresteijn (director Rotterdam Zoo)