100 exotic birds inhabit the gigantic steel-cable cage
TENERIFE. Colourful lories, Victoria crowned pigeons and mandarin ducks are just some of the diverse species on show in the Katandra Treetops aviary at the Loro leisure park on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands. The aviary is shaped like a tent, is made of steel supports and steel mesh weighing 31 tonnes and has a volume of 17,000 cubic metres, which is equivalent to that of the Paris Opera. The entire construction was produced by the cable-maker Carl Stahl from Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
The name of the Katandra Treetops aviary means “Birdsong in the treetops” in the language of Australian aborigines. The flight cage is one of the most impressive examples of its type worldwide: it encloses a volume of 17,000 cubic metres and weighs 31 tonnes. The apex of the construction is 27m high. Abridge enables visitors to admire from different angles the diversity of the more than 100 Australian and Asian birds that inhabit the giant cage.
The tropical flora includes exotic Eucalyptus trees, which together with the warm, moist climate and air smelling of caramel and ethereal plants makes Katandra Treetops a popular destination for tourists. Full-service from planning to final assembly In order to restrict the landscape of the aviary as little as possible and to give the enclosure the required level of security at the same time, the park operators decided on a mesh construction, the flexible steel wire X-TEND solution from cable specialist Carl Stahl GmbH from Süßen, Germany. Assembly took place in Tenerife using a total of 77 hanging, tensioning and connecting cables with diameters from 12-26mm, 17 pylons and a mesh area of 3,200 square metres.
The entire mesh construction (cables and ferrules) was blackened using a special process that makes it barely visible amidst the verdant jungle vegetation. The inverse torsion of the stainless steel components makes X-TEND exceptionally robust and enables the mesh to withstand even powerful forces. X-TEND stainless steel mesh is produced to order and to individual specifications. When it is manufactured in a single length X-TEND can be produced and therefore extended endlessly, which gives it is name. Individual lengths of mesh can be fastened together indefinitely without compromising the stability of the whole.
“In developing X-TEND we wanted to create a building material that was a safety and a design element at the same time. The areas in which X-TEND can be applied are therefore highly diverse: on walls and façades they make ideal trellises and can be used to landscape and modulate façades. In zoos and high buildings the nets are used as transparent barriers - like here in Loro Parque“, explains Thomas Krieger, Carl Stahl's architecture product manager.
In addition to supplying the material itself, Carl Stahl and Officium Stuttgart, its planners for many years, were also responsible for the planning, structural engineering and assembly of the steel components and cables. Carl Stahl also coordinated the final assembly of the material following its prefabrication in Germany.
1.3 million visitors and an award for services to tourism
Loro Parque fascinates ever larger numbers of spectators. The nature park now has more than 1.3 million visitors a year and is the only company on Tenerife to have been awarded the renowned Prince Felipe Prize for its outstanding business performance. The park is famous for its clear focus on sustainability, ecology and quality as well as the diversity of its animal exhibits. This has been acknowledged by accolades such as the Green Tree from Germany, the Excellence Best Highlight from the tour operator Thomson or the Premio al torismo from the Tenerife Chamber of Commerce. Furthermore, the Loro Parque Fundacion has been dedicated to the conservation of parrot species and their habitats since 1994. The foundation owns one of the largest collections of parrots in the world, which also serves as genetic database for the future.
