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Asia exhibit at the Oklahoma City Zoo to include larger area for elephants

 
BY CARRIE COPPERNOLL | Published: December 1, 2008    Comment on this article Leave a comment
photo - Ace Torre, president of Torre Design Consortium, talks with staff at the Oklahoma City Zoo about plans for the new elephant exhibit. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
Ace Torre, president of Torre Design Consortium, talks with staff at the Oklahoma City Zoo about plans for the new elephant exhibit. PHOTO BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN

Page after page of drawings rested under Ace Torre’s hands as he listened to advice from a horticulturalist.

His drawings represent the largest and most expensive project in Oklahoma City Zoo history, and now it’s come down to plant locations, door handles and drainage ditches.

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Oklahoma City Zoo Asia exhibit

Nov 30Ace Torre talks about the design and layout of the new...

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BY THE NUMBERS
The Asia Exhibit
11
Size, in acres, including about 6 acres for the elephant area. Elephant area is currently one-fourth acre.

12,000
Size of the new elephant barn, in square feet, compared to the current 16,000 square feet.

10-15
The number of elephants the new exhibit will accommodate. The zoo currently has two elephants.

Source: Oklahoma City Zoo and Torre Design Consortium

ONLINE
"�Elephant Nation
Go to www.NewsOK.com/ElephantNation for continuing coverage of the Oklahoma City Zoo elephants. Watch videos of Ace Torre talking about his design, the elephants playing in their yard or a history of Oklahoma City elephants. See photos, maps and past stories about Oklahoma elephants.

Torre is the lead designer of the Oklahoma City Zoo’s new Asia exhibit, an 11-acre, $23 million project set to open in 2011. The design process has taken months, but the end is in sight.

"The pieces come slowly into focus,” he said.

Designs integrate history
Torre began his career as a landscape architect who moved into traditional architecture and urban design. He worked as a city planner.

But he wanted a new challenge, he said.

His earth-friendly nature drew him to zoo design, which requires both sets of skills.

He’s designed exhibits in nearly every state and even overseas. He’s president of Torre Design Consortium, based in New Orleans.

Torre incorporates as many of his client’s dreams as possible.

It’s exciting for zoo staff, said Dwight Scott, executive director of the Oklahoma City Zoo.

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Related Topics: Nature and the Environment, Visual Arts, Wildlife, Architecture, Design, Mammals, Cultural Institutions and Parks, Zoos and Aquariums, Arts, Entertainment, and Media, Elephants



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