21 national monuments | Rotterdam Zoo

Six iconic buildings and places in Diergaarde Blijdorp, each with a rich history.

The Rivièrahal is the main building and centerpiece of Sybold van Ravesteyn's design at the Diergaarde Blijdorp / Rotterdam Zoo. After its completion in 1940, the Rivièrahal was for a long time the bustling heart of Rotterdam. It was used for all kinds of events, from fashion shows to concerts, from boxing matches to exhibitions. It was a place where the city and the zoo met.

Now the Rivièra Hall is being restored and will regain its old function as a meeting place. This is being done in three phases: we are starting with the Victoria Serre and the underlying greenhouse. It will remain a botanical destination. Diergaarde Blijdorp is also a fully certified botanical garden. The Victoria Serre with the underlying greenhouse will be filled entirely with this function. The central hall will then be tackled and repurposed into a rentable space for events and companies, and finally, the ape/pachyderm wing will be developed into an educational space with break-out rooms and a public catering facility.

The renewed Rivièra Hall must become one of Rotterdam's vibrant and green places. Here our stories, our heritage, and our ambitions are united, and the bond with the city is strengthened.

The former giraffe building and tea room, designed by Van Ravesteyn, completed the symmetry in the northwest corner of the zoo. They were mirrored along the Papegaaienlaan and connected by a colonnade with a concrete sculpture of three abstracted giraffes in the middle. The left building housed the giraffe building, while the right building served as a tea room. The terrace between the two buildings was later converted into a grazing area for the giraffes.

The construction of the Asian continent in 1989 changed the symmetrical layout of this part of the zoo. The Papegaaienlaan and the axis of symmetry disappeared to make way for the elephant's outdoor enclosure. The former giraffe enclosure in the west-facing building was transformed into a lion enclosure with a large lion meadow in front of it. The east-facing building was converted into the Lotus Serre and later into the restaurant 'Poort van Azië'. The terrace between the two buildings was restored. The giraffes moved to a new location in the zoo. The lion enclosure and the restaurant were restored in 2015-2016, with both buildings also being provided with new extensions, a new night shelter for the lions and storage, a scullery, cold rooms, and a staff room for the restaurant. The new extensions are finished with vertical bamboo slats, which also reappear in the interior of the newly installed balcony in the former tea room.

On the east side, Diergaarde Blijdorp has a monumental entrance designed by Van Ravesteyn, which marked the end of the Bentincklaan. It included a large fench for transport and a visitor entrance with ticket sales corners under a continuous canopy. Sculptures by Leendert Bolle adorned the columns of the fence with animal silhouettes, and the zoo's monogram was visible on the fences and above the ticket sales counters. Five counters were used for ticket sales.

At the old main entrance on the Van Aerssenlaan, there are seven columns with sculptures by Leendert Bolle, depicting animals such as seahorses, a bird, and dolphins. This entrance, together with artworks such as the statue between the giraffe building and tea room, emphasize the artistic value of Diergaarde Blijdorp.

In 2010 and 2011, the old entrance was completely restored, preserving its original appearance. Despite the considerable damage caused by a car in 2017, the fence is now back in perfect condition.

Diergaarde Blijdorp has set itself the goal of making Van Ravesteyn's design and buildings even more recognizable and accessible to visitors but in line with current use and future innovations of the Masterplan. This will give the buildings a new future while preserving their historical and architectural value, such as the former giraffe building and tea room. In this way, Diergaarde will remain a place where heritage and modern functions come together, and where visitors can experience its rich history.

Upon entering through the historic entrance of the zoo, the "Winkel van Sinkel" is a nostalgic eye-catcher. The charming building sits on a large square and once marked the boundary between the zoo's own grounds and the leased area.

The building was originally a kiosk, where visitors could purchase candy, postcards and souvenirs. The front of the kiosk features nine large windows, behind which the merchandise was beautifully displayed. Each window could be opened as service counters. The building also served as a first aid post.

A special feature is the ornamental metal monkey figures adorning the roofline, designed by Pieter den Besten (1894–1972). The plant borders highlight the building’s shape, giving it an attractive appearance.

For a long period, the building was unrecognizable because it was converted into an animal enclosure for the penguin. In 2010, the restoration of the pld entrance area was completed, and the "Winkel van Sinkel" regained its original function as a kiosk.

The administration building with service residence was constructed between 1939 and 1941 and is located next to the old main entrance on the Van Aerssenlaan. The building has its own front door on Van Aerssenlaan.

On the ground floor, there were meeting rooms and workspaces for administration and management. The upper floor was a service residence, reportedly intended for the director. After the restoration in 2010, both parts were merged, and the entire building now serves as a workspace, including for the zoo's management.

The building has a clean, traditional style. It is constructed from yellow bricks and consists of two floors with a slanted roof structure on top. On both sides are lower extensions with terraces on the flat roof. These are finished with concrete edges and decorative wrought-iron railings, which are a common feature throughout architect Van Ravesteyn’s overall design of the zoo. This includes the round windows and the decoration of the columns with spherical ornaments. The main section has a roof with red tiles and a chimney adorned with wrought-iron decorations.

The Reindeer stable, which was originally the night shelter for the eland antelopes, has recently been restored. The stable is located along Van Ravesteyn’s symmetry axis, between the former bear theater and the old predator enclosure.

The building has a rectangular, curved floor plan with a gently sloping roof. The original roof is somewhat asymmetrical due to a larger overhang on the north facade compared to the south facade. Both the south and north facades were symmetrically designed. The two end facades have a simple layout and are mirrored relative to each other.

The Reindeer stable was built as one of the twelve wooden night shelters for grazing animals. Each pasture in the original garden design had a corresponding night shelter. The wooden stables were all designed in the same style, with many similarities in form and finish, featuring gray-green planks, white columns, a graceful gabled roof, and windows and doors with a diagonal pattern. Of the original twelve wooden night shelters, nine remain from the original design.

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A Rotterdam icon

Past, Present, Future.

Past

Present

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Six monumental icons

The Rivièra Hall

Open Monument Day