Plan for zoo on Ada Ciganlija includes amusement park with rollercoasters, panoramic wheel and outdoor and thermal pools with spa center – City seeking preliminary design

The Office of the Head Urban Planner of Belgrade and the Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade have opened the urban planning and architectural contest for the preliminary design of the zoo within the amusement and recreation park on Ada Ciganlija.

The subject of the Contest is a spatial-program solution for the amusement and recreation park within which the location of the new Belgrade Zoo is to be developed in more detail.

In addition to the already announced moving of the zoo from the existing location in Kalemegdan to the area around the Ada Safari, the new address on Ada Ciganlija will offer additional entertainment and recreation features to the visitors, according to the text of the contest.

The maximum total gross developed building area (the amusement and recreation park and the zoo) will be 6,200 m2.

– The amusement and recreation park with the zoo and the Ada Safari lake will represent an all-encompassing recreational space – the text of the contest says and adds that the lake, as a natural element, can serve “as a link between the two entities, providing the possibilities for water activities, such as boat riding or fishing.”

The amusement park around the Ada Safari lake, on an area of 28.29 hectares, will encompass outdoor and thermal pools with a spa center, areas for field trips, children’s playgrounds, smaller hospitality facilities, outdoor exhibitions, slides of various dimensions and categories (rollercoaster), a panoramic wheel with a big diameter, providing a view to the surrounding space, a carousel, a merry-go-round, small trains with specially made tunnels and stations…

The location planned for the zoo and the amusement park currently features the Ada Safari lake, the Dino Park, a ski track with a ski lift, tubing and a ski simulator, central sports courts – 4 for handball, 2 for basketball, 2 for volleyball, 2 for 3x3 basketball and the only Center for People with Disabilities in the territory of Belgrade.

According to the contest documentation, the sports court is to be retained with the accompanying features for persons with disabilities. A ground-floor religious building (chapel) is also planned in that zone, with a maximum area of 50 m2, whereas the existing residential facilities in the “Partizan” settlement are planned to be demolished.

When it comes to the zoo, it is reminded that the Belgrade Zoo, since its founding in 1936, has been located within the Belgrade Fortress in Kalemegdan, which has been designated a cultural monument and is a space of exceptional monument values.

– The tendency of the City of Belgrade is for the existing zoo to be transformed from a traditional (urban) type into the more acceptable type of a park for the keeping and breeding of animals (natural, bio-park…) – the text of the contest says.

The zoo itself, as said, will have a space for the accommodation of animals of a total of 13,654 m2 (outdoor and indoor). Currently, there are 211 animal species at the Belgrade Zoo, from large beasts to reptiles, that is, more than 2,000 animals on 6 hectares. The planners are suggested to re-examine the possibility of grouping the animals at the new zoo by continents, “which can contribute to the education of the visitors.”

The new zoo on Ada will also include educational and research features, interactive exhibition spaces, recreational zones for the visitors and spaces for the rehabilitation of the animals.

Of the side facilities, on a total of 1,025 m2, the plan includes the head office building, the Research and Education Center with various programs and workshops for visitors of all ages, a gift shop, a hospitality facility of up to 350 m2 with a balcony, a guardhouse, a ticket booth and toilets for the visitors.

To access the planned features, a small motor train for tourists or some other form of ecological transport is planned. The construction of a two-level aboveground garage with 2,580 parking spaces is planned, as are docks for local traffic and a marina in the Cukarica Creek.

A new sewerage pumping station is to be built as well, next to the existing one, the sewerage pumping station Cukarica.

The total prize fund at this contest is RSD 10,500,000, and the deadline for the submission of the works is January 27, 2025. Other details (in Serbian) can be found HERE.

B. P.

Grad Beograd

JUP Urbanistički zavod Beograda

Beo zoo vrt doo Beograd

City of Belgrade

Urban Planning Institute of Belgrade

Belgrade Zoo

Ada Ciganlija

Ada Safari

zoo

amusement park

moving of the zoo

rollercoasters

panoramic wheel

spa center

outdoor pools

thermal pools