Oaklands College – Animal Management & Zoo

Designed as a publicly accessible teaching zoo, it brings together classrooms, specialist animal rooms, a vet room, exhibition and event spaces, and a climatically controlled biome with high-quality external enclosures. Used by students during the week and opened to schools, youth groups and visitors at weekends and during holidays, the project supports both further education and wider public engagement. 

The Animal Management Centre forms part of the wider regeneration of Oaklands College’s St Albans campus. Once a manor house and former agricultural college, the campus has evolved over time through an assortment of teaching buildings set within its grounds. Although a highly successful college, much of the estate is no longer fit for purpose and needs renewal to meet modern expectations. The wider masterplan, designed by DLA,  responds by introducing nine new buildings, connected by landscape improvements that enhance the Green Belt setting and group departments and student-focused uses around a new college square. Within this wider framework, the Animal Management Centre will replace outdated agricultural accommodation with a purpose-built teaching zoo and specialist learning environment for animal care, public discovery and hands-on education.

The project is driven by a need to replace poor-quality, outdated accommodation with a specialist environment that reflects current expectations for teaching, animal care and visitor experience. The scheme rethinks the relationship between learning, husbandry and public discovery through three single-storey buildings arranged in an arc around a landscaped zoo environment. This layout allows students to move between classrooms, animal rooms and external enclosures, learning through observation and practical care, while visitors are given carefully framed views into the life of the centre along a clear route around the zoo edge. A canopy shelters this external path, while a rear service area supports the practical needs of animal care, including the opportunity to grow food for the animals.

Internally, the buildings bring together reception, exhibition spaces, theory classrooms, specialist animal rooms, a vet room and changing facilities for PPE in a simple, legible arrangement that supports both daily teaching and public use. The result will strengthening the Colleges contribution to the social and skills economy of St Albans.

Set in the north-west corner of the campus, beside the orchard to the west, grazing fields to the north and the equine centre to the east, the building is carefully positioned within the wider agricultural and landscape setting of Oaklands College. Its low-rise form and pitched roof profile respond to this semi-rural context, while dark brick cladding and coordinated roof materials draw from the contemporary palette developed across the campus. Public elevations are given a more expressive character through feature colours inspired by insects, reptiles and zoo life, creating a memorable public face without losing the robustness required of a working education building. A coloured frame marks the main entrance, while a mesh screen moderates the southern aspect and provides a clear framework for signage and wayfinding. 

A central idea the ability to serve more than one audience. During the week, the centre operates as a specialist teaching environment for animal management students. At weekends and during holiday periods, it opens as a public learning resource for schools, youth groups and visitors. This dual role gives the building a broader civic value, allowing it to support formal teaching while also becoming a year-round community destination. It is an approach consistent with the wider Oaklands masterplan, where buildings are designed not only to improve education provision but also to enrich community life and create new opportunities for engagement. 

Throughout the development of the masterplan our approach has included collaboration with young people, through a series of engagement sessions, ensuring their needs shaped the design of both living and learning environments. Empowering young people, the consultation process and subsequent design provides spaces that encourage personal development and community participation. 

We have engaged directly with the College Senior Leadership team over a number of years, supporting them in developing and refining design proposals in response to a shifting marketing and evolving business case.