Situated on 113-acres in Griffith Park, the Los Angeles Zoo has served as a haven for animals and an educational venue for visitors since its opening in 1966. Due in part to the passage of two local propositions, nine acres at the Zoo’s entrance have been transformed into a new entry complex designed to ensure that guests begin their “Zoo experience” from the moment they enter the grounds.

Meléndrez created a lush, California-themed landscape to complement the Zoo’s dramatic, 60-foot tall steel framework Pre-Ticketing Plaza. Use of date palm and olive groves, large coast live oaks, and bold indigenous plantings reflect the historic agricultural patterns and natural communities of Southern California. Paving patterns evocative of a dry arroyo streambed leads visitors inside the gates, and through the plaza’s many amenities including the Sea Lion Cliffs exhibit, Children’s Discovery Center and a river walk path adjacent to the grand staircase, which also leads visitors to the upper plaza and into the gift shops and main Zoo area. A Southern California inland foothills landscape has been sculpted into the north side of the grand staircase, with an arroyo amidst native plantings giving visitors the opportunity to experience the picturesque foothills of the region. On the south side of the grand staircase, coastal bluff terraces have been designed as an overlook to the Sea Lion Cliffs, the new home to the Zoo’s five California sea lions.

The new Zoo Entry Complex is alive with color and entertainment, while telling the landscape story of Southern California. As the first element to be seen by visitors arriving at the Zoo, the complex foreshadows the visitors’ experience before they pass through the entry gates. These improvements lend to the Zoo’s status as a world-class facility, of which the city and community is very proud.


Back To Index