The Giraffe House was built as a direct result of the acquisition of the London Zoo's first four giraffes, Selim, Mabrouk, Guib-allah and Zaida. It was built 1836-37, designed by Decimus Burton, architect. Wings were added 1849-50. It was bomb damaged in 1940 and largely rebuilt 1960-1963 by Franz Stengelhofen and Colin Wears, architects. It is Grade II listed. The central block is flanked by rebuilt low wings. That to the east was the Hippo House from 1850 when Obaysch arrived at the Zoo. The giraffe enclosure features a high-level viewing platform to give the public face-to-face contact with the giraffes and the 1837 Giraffe House is the oldest zoo building in the world still used for its original purpose.
The Gibbon Cage (treated here was it it were an aviary because of its physical form) and the Cockatoo Aviary are similar structures. The Gibbon Cage has springy trapeze bars to provide the gibbons with the opportunity to exercise by arm swinging the length of the cage. When built this was the longest artificial gibbon run in the world. Built 1960-62, Franz Stengelhofen, architect. Pool bases landscaped 1981. Demolished in 2003.
Giants of the Galápagos was opened in 2009 to coincide with the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, and is home to three female Galápagos giant tortoises named Dolly, Polly, Priscilla. The exhibit features a large indoor area, with a heated pong and underfloor heating, while the outdoor paddock has been designed to mimic the tortoise's natural environment and features two heated pools, one of which is a naturalistic clay wallow. The new Giants of the Galápagos exhibit opened October 2021.
The north bank of Regent's Canal, east of the East Footbridge, has been the site of greenhouses since about 1920; standing buildings are of 1963 and later. The Zoo's Gardening Department propagates plants here, including many exotic species, for the enclosures and the public spaces of the gardens. The greenhouses have been rebuilt with a brick stores range to the north.
