September 2010
Documents for Houston Zoo’s African Forest Exhibit are now complete and being prepared to go out to bid with an anticipated ground breaking date of May 2009, and completion in September 2010.

LZI, in collaboration with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, has begun the Schematic Design phase for a new National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. The aquarium will find a new location on the Mall at the Department of Commerce.
The focus is on America’s Aquatic Treasures.

LZI continues to work with the US Fish & Wildlife Service on a variety of projects. Presently, LZI and the team of Split Rock Studios, Peace River Studios, and Paul Erickson Communications are engaged in work for: The Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Interpretive Center, in Sudbury, MA; The Long Island NWR Complex Interpretive Center in Shirley, NY; Sachuest Point NWR Visitor Center in Middletown, RI; as well as several smaller graphics projects at Umbagog NWR in Eliot, NH; Cape May NWR, Cape May, NJ; and E. B. Forsythe NWR in Oceanville, NJ.

The Assabet River Wildlife Refuge Interpretive Center in Sudbury, MA is due to open to the public on October 17, 2010. LZI and the team of Split Rock Studios, Peace River Studio, and Paul Erickson Communications have completed all work for this design/build project and are now wrapping up final details in preparation for the official opening. The exhibits explore the habitats that make up the USF&W’s Eastern Massachusetts Wildlife Refuge complex, and will serve as a primer for exploring the nature world, while also providing insight into the seasonality of these habitats as well as the history of the land and how it has been used by people over thousands of years.

The Long Island NWR Complex has started construction of a new visitor center and office building at their Wertheim NWR site in Shirley, NY. Lyons/Zaremba Inc. has completed the design of the exhibits, and are about to commence with the fabrication phase in October 2010. The interpretive exhibits focus on the specific habitats found at the Wertheim NWR, but reference those also found at the other refuges that make up the Long Island Complex. The exhibits are comprised of a mix of interpretive dioramas, a live fish exhibit set within a marsh, a variety of interpretive and interactive discovery elements, and interpretive graphics. The facility is scheduled to open to the public in May 2011.

Lyons/Zaremba Inc. continues to work with Zoo Miami (formerly known as Miami MetroZoo) on a series of new projects. Working with Forbes Architects of Miami, and EHDD Architects of San Francisco, our team is designing a variety of improvements to Zoo Miami including a new themed playground, a new entry sign, a new children’s zoo, an overall campus wayfinding graphics system, and a variety of pathway improvements.

Miami MetroZoo celebrated their 30th anniversary this July with the unveiling of their new name – Zoo Miami, which was unveiled on their new Entry Sign designed by Lyons/Zaremba Inc. and Forbes Architects, Miami. The intent of the new sign was to provide greater presence along the main access to the zoo, while also providing visitors and general vehicular traffic with a dynamic, changing graphic appearance. Our solution was to incorporate a 4 foot tall by 40 foot long LED sign that is programmed to provide photographic montages of the zoo’s flora and fauna, while also providing text announcements of upcoming events.

Zoo Miami’s new playground is scheduled to start construction in the fall of 2010. The playground has been themed to create a sense of place with ocean, tropical forest, arctic, and desert habitats as their focus. Phase One of this project will include the ocean and tropical forest zones only, with two party pavilions situated in the areas of future phase expansion. Organized around a 3D compass rose at its center, the habitats will have distinct themes and characteristics that will attract end engage children, while allowing them to move freely between habitats. Children will encounter a wide variety of experiences that allow for group activities or individual play, physical/motor activities or contemplative play. Toddlers and older children alike can choose to play together or gravitate to age-appropriate experiences of their choosing. Seating, nearby food service, and restrooms will be located adjacent to this playground to make for welcomed family break while at the zoo.

Zoo Miami’s Children’s Petting Zoo is also scheduled to go into construction in the fall of 2010. The Petting Zoo is geared to a young audience and will provide a playful environment from which visitors can have hands-on personal experience with a variety of species located within the “Wacky Barn” – a brightly finished, playful structure with indoor and outdoor pens designed by Forbes Architects, Miami. For this project, Lyons/Zaremba Inc. has provided graphic design services for all interpretive and informational features.

Houston Zoo’s African Forest Exhibit is in construction and is schedule to open to the public in December 2010. Working with PJA Architects, Lyons/Zaremba Inc. provided the design of all interpretive exhibit features, as well as many of the themed treatments throughout the exhibit. This immersive experience follows the trail of a fictional character – Tommy – and his transformation from illegal animal collector to native dweller and friend to the forest. The interpretive exhibits provide incidental content that depart from the traditional approach of interpretive exhibits, while providing the visitor with a real sense of discovery as they investigate their surroundings within the exhibit. While on their trek, visitors will be encouraged to also seek out the Koolookamba – an undocumented species believed to be a cross between chimpanzee and gorilla. Our character, Tommy, entertains the local people and zoo visitors alike with hidden Koolookamba “art” that he has placed along the pathway for them to discover.

The National Aquarium in Washington DC is about to re-start design this Fall. Lyons/Zaremba Inc., in collaboration with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, has completed the Schematic Design phase for a new National Aquarium in Washington, D.C. The renovated aquarium will totally transform the old aquarium located within the Department of Commerce building, and will feature an exciting new entry which will provide the aquarium with a strong presence on the Mall. The storyline of the aquarium will focus on America’s Aquatic Treasures, and features exhibits that explore NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries program.

The Toledo Zoo has selected Lyons/Zaremba Inc. along with EHDD Architects, SF, and TJP, San Diego, for life support systems to renovate and redesign their existing aquarium building. The project began in spring 2010 and will continue in a design mode through 2012, after which the process of renovation and new construction will commence with a projected completion date of 2015. This exterior character of this historically significant WPA era building will be maintained, while the interior spaces and the exhibits themselves will be transformed to provide visitors with a fresh, new experience of the aquatic world, drawing important connections between people and that living world, with an emphasis on sustainability and better stewardship of this One Blue Planet we call, Earth.

The Oklahoma City Zoo commissioned PJA Architects, Seattle, to produce a Site Master Plan. Working with the zoo and PJA, Lyons/Zaremba Inc. was asked this past year to develop an approach for zoo-wide wayfinding that would take into account the proposed new layout for the zoo while also creating a more thematic approach to the signage system itself. Special attention was also given to the development of an iconic arrival feature that would help foster the zoo’s presence within a cultural district, as well as celebrating the rich diversity of flora and fauna found at the zoo. The Site Master Plan is due to be complete in October 2010.