Last week, Primera’s team had the pleasure of attending the ribbon cutting for Lincoln Park Zoo’s new state-of-the-art lion house. The Pepper Family Wildlife Center officially opened to the public on Thursday, welcoming lions and other carnivores back to the landmark building originally constructed in 1912.

Primera got involved with the project five years ago, attending workshops with the Zoo to develop designs that overcame restrictions imposed by the building’s landmark status and addressed existing accessibility issues throughout the building. The new Wildlife Center provides a larger habitat – more than double the size of the original – for the lions and links the outside and inside environments. Our team provided the HVAC and electrical design, identified the requirements to serve animal life support system equipment, developed MEP system concepts to address the needs of the program including adding cooling to a historic building that had no infrastructure in place, and prepared documents to address architect and owner comments.

“What an incredible project to be a part of,” explains Senior Project Manager Erin Lowery. “It’s exciting to see this revitalized facility open to the public after close to 10 years of planning by the Zoo. Congrats to all involved.”

The $41-million renovation was designed by Goettsch Partners and constructed by Pepper Construction Company. The center houses a pride of lions, as well as two red pandas, two Canada lynx and two snow leopards.