– When we were designing the “look and feel” of the path leading to the Orientarium in the zoo in Łódź, we searched for a material on which sophisticated graphics could be easily applied. It had to be characterised by low thermal expansion, simple mounting, large format, and “cooperation” with lighting effects. We wanted to impress the visitors, especially the youngest ones. From the very first mock-ups we got a clear indication that Scalamid was a hit – says Dorota Szlachcic, head of the design team and co-owner of ArC2 Fabryka Projektowa studio.
The graphic shows elephants swimming in the pool. Scalamid made it possible to reproduce an almost Dureresque graphic – a concept of Odaibe multimedia company and the design team led by Dorota Szlachcic, an architect known for her bold biological projects. The idea of cooperation in Orientarium came from Rafał Kurowski, Product Manager at Pozbruk, the company that owns the Scalamid brand. – I contacted the general contractor and the architects preparing the project, suggesting the idea of using Scalamid. The product made a good impression and the details were worked out over several months: designs, tests, etc. The final result exceeded our expectations – says Rafał Kurowski.
Angola, Russia, Łódź
Orientarium will be home to Indian elephants, Malayan bears, orangutans, sharks, stingrays. You will even be able to see a coral reef there. The path to the entrance is decorated with Scalamid panels with graphics of swimming elephants. – I waited for a project like this. I worked on several interesting projects before, but this one is amazing, it will be a demonstration of the usefulness of Scalamid. It will be seen by visitors from all over Poland, it is estimated that up to two million people a year — adds Rafał Kurowski.
This is not the first animal-related project prepared by ArC2 Fabryka Projektowa. Dorota Szlachcic’s team is also rsponsible for the architectural concepts for Afrykarium in Wrocław and the Namibe oceanarium in Angola, Orientarium in Łódź, the concept for the Nautilus in Gdańsk, and is currently working on the design of an enclosure for Siberian tigers near Vladivostok.
Swimming not only on Scalamid
– Cooperation with specialists in various fields, including zoologists who know the habits of animals, is very important. While preparing such fascinating projects, we sometimes almost give up our private lives. Our reward is being able to touch what we created in a natural setting for animals that are in danger of extinction. We get to watch people enjoy using the spaces we created. You cannot compare this feeling to anything else. This was also the case with Orientarium and, in my opinion, something unique was created. I only hope that in reality elephants will also want to swim in the pool, just like they do on the mosaic made of Scalamid – Dorota Szlachcic sums up with a smile.
