Sepilok Outdoor Nursery Lobby
Sepilok Outdoor Nursery
The Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre is one of the top tourist attractions in Sabah, and as such is continually managing the fine balance between wildlife conservation and education of public. In this interior renovation, Arkitrek attempts to alleviate the feeling that the orang-utan training is a performance for tourists, but rather that tourists are being permitted to observe discretely a part of the rehabilitation process.
The Outdoor Nursery is a place where people can learn, feel and act as they observe the rehabilitation process of young orang-utans.
The design reduces the scale of the existing amphitheatre and adds warmth to a building which had been bare concrete, freezing air-conditioning and harsh reverberations. The seating is made deeper, and are cushioned to absorb reverberations. In addition, movable seating is added. Day lighting and artificial lighting are both improved and air-conditioning is replaced by passive ventilation in 1 half of the building. Interpretive boards give educational material to visitors while features such as natural bamboo screen, a kids’ corner, external planted screens give the building a softer, more human feel. The result is colourful, vibrant and beautiful place, for visitors to relax and watch the orang utans in training.
Project Data
Status: Completed Jan 2014
Contract Sum: MYR800,000
GFA: 280m²
Design Team: Rahim Mudin, Jason Tan Ming Hau, Ian Hall
Illegal logging and deforestation activities in Sabah have led to orangutans being homeless, injured and orphaned. That is why a Centre like the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre was established. The centre is situated on the edge of the Kabili forest reserve and was the first centre in the world to dedicate itself to the rehabilitation of orphaned orangutans. Sepilok is situated in 43sq km of virgin lowland equatorial rainforest.
