COLE design prefab bear sanctuary in Vietnam jungle utilising rocks from site

In a collaboration with Cát Tiên National Park, Free the Bears and Building Trust international, COLE have completed the design of a series of buildings serving to house bears rescued from the illegal wildlife trade and bear bile industry. The result is a modular, light filled, gabion structure aiming to fuse nature and functionality.

COLE have delivered a number of innovative and diverse projects for Wildlife organisations worldwide. Therefore are no strangers to delivering work in complex and hard to access areas. The Vietnam Bear Sanctuary project however presented two major challenges. Firstly, the site was on the other side of the Đong Nai river which meant supplies had to be ferried across. A further challenge was the site being on the side of a heavily forested jungle hill, sitting in one of Vietnam’s largest national parks.

The project called for an affordable, easily replicable design that couldbe adapted to fit the contours of the mountain and respond to the site constraints. There was also a strong desire to make the project as environmentally sustainable as possible due to the location within a national park and the client being so closely connected to wildlife conservation.

"We wanted to reduce the concrete usage and we started developing wall ideas. We knew there were some parameters, it was necessary to keep the steel mesh and concrete finish inside the bear dens, as it was easy to clean down preventing infection and contamination. We simply took the mesh material and used it to create gabion walls with high thermal mass. The inside could be rendered and the outside could be untreated  to give a natural sandy colour found around the site. The mesh sheet sizes which were available led to a modular design. This essentially led to the foundation of the building blocks for the whole project. We utilized a steel frame structure to support a green roof and built the bear houses with internal courtyards to give ample space for fruit trees providing a food source for the bears.” David COLE, Director COLE

The buildings are orientated east to west to reduce overheating. The gabion walls stop 1m from the roof line to allow for good cross ventilation. The roof cut outs allow high levels of natural light into the dens providing additional comfort for the bears and bear keepers. All services are hidden within the gabions and the steel is left exposed galvanized or finished with grey zinc oxide paint. The intention is that over time the plants will flourish in the courtyard and the green roof will grow down over the fascia of the roof allowing the overall form to blend in with the forest.

“Working with COLE gave us access to the highest level of design skills that we otherwise would not have had. Together we were able to create a master plan for a bear sanctuary featuring six bear houses with forest enclosures, an education centre, hospital, quarantine and associated administration buildings. This allowed us to plan and seek funding for the sanctuary in a logical manner. With over 40 Sun bears and Moon bears currently living on site, the task of creating a practical, functioning sanctuary coupled with environmentally-conscious and aesthetic qualities was no small feat. The finished product means faster build times, appealing buildings and reduced costs; all of which goes a long way to providing the very best of care and a second chance for these victims of the cruel bear bile trade.” Nev Broadis, Regional Director, Free the Bears