Excitement and anticipation was in the air right before the opening of Panda Garden. Then Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Xi Jinping entered the red bridge of Panda Garden and commended not only the German-Chinese relationship, but also the new home of Meng Meng and Jiao Qing.
After the red curtain was revealed, the opening guests and journalists poured into the plaza and were greeted by the unimpressed pandas.
Our joy about the opening is still to be seen. After only 14 months of planning and building together with our partner emproc BPM, we were able to finish the Panda exhibit at Berlin Zoo in time and are now relieved that the pandas feel visibly well in their new home.
It is a great honour, that after Panda World in the South Korean Everland Resort, we were now also able to plan the enclosure for the rare animals in Berlin. “Panda Garden invites visitors of Berlin Zoo to experience a bit of China and get up-close to the rare pandas,” says Kieran Stanley, CEO dan pearlman experience architecture.
Enjoying some appetizers, we celebrated the opening in the zoo until the early evening. From 5 July 2017, Panda Garden is open to the public.
You can read the entire press release about the opening here.
In the mini-interview at the topping out ceremony in February, project manager Anna Buttkus explained why the Panda Garden is a real masterpiece.
You can find more information in the videos where you get an overview of the Panda Garden, see how they are adapting to their new home, and learn more about the Panda-Mania in Berlin.