This spring the two large Chinese pandas moved to Copenhagen ZOO. But it’s not just the animal species that is quite unique. The new taps in the Panda House are custom-made for these particular toilet facilities. The Danish company Damixa has specially designed new touch-free fittings with a durable matte surface and with the ZOO logo engraved on the lid.

Clean hands under black panda taps

The new panda house at the Copenhagen ZOO has recently welcomed its new residents. And the facilities surrounding the panda residence are ready to accommodate more than 1,3 million guests who visit the ZOO every year and who of course also are expected to come and see the architect-designed panda house. Creating this highly unique experience centre has taken about 1,5 years of intensive construction work. It provides first-class accommodation for the pandas, and the guests can get up close and personal with these rare animals.

The round, multi-storey facility is an impressive sight to behold as you cross the World Square and look down into the yin and yang-shaped panda house. Bamboo, black and white are common themes, but the overall impression is that the facility oozes quality from end to end.

- We’ve paid attention to detail on everything, right from the artificial stones with integrated cooling and heating to the custom-made fittings in the toilets. The plant is extremely nice, and hardly anything in here was easy to accomplish, says project manager Christian Houmøller Christensen of C5 VVS & Ventilation A/S. He has now had a permanent workplace at the ZOO for a year. C5 VVS & Ventilation A/S is a large-scale contractor responsible for carrying out the technical contract work in the panda house and thus has the responsibility for all of the technical installations: Sewage, electricity, CTS, ventilation, insulation and plumbing. He adds:

- When looking at the finished result, I am proud of it as a whole. I remember looking at a big hole in the ground, and now the facility is complete, and everything works as planned. Even though you quickly become hypnotized by all the extra and different things, at the end of the day, it’s still "just" water and heating and not rocket science that we needed to get up and running here. And we have solved this very well.

Black custom-made taps

Damixa has entered into an agreement with the ZOO about changing the current taps in the toilet facilities of the garden on an on-going basis with Damixa Free fittings with sensor control. But for the panda building, the architect prescribed black fittings.

- In our usual range, Damixa Free doesn’t come in black, so we had to consider new designs. As we have a range of other fittings in black, we had custom-made black Damixa Free made just for the panda house and at the same time got the ZOO logo engraved on the lid to match the taps in the rest of the garden, says Claus Dennis, who is an energy advisor with the FM Mattsson Mora Group and the company behind Damixa in Denmark.

- Considering this project was conceived by the Bjarke Ingels Group, we have succeeded in producing a tap whose design meets strict architectural requirements. Damixa Free is specially designed for heavy-use areas. The fitting was developed in 2016 in cooperation with Copenhagen Airports.The possibility of having its logo engraved on the lid was of great importance to the Copenhagen ZOO. It sends a striking signal to the garden's guests that it pays attention to detail.

One-bedroom house worth Euro 21,3 million. ​​​​​​​

The new panda house at the Copenhagen ZOO has been nicknamed Denmark's most expensive one-bedroom house. The Panda facility at the ZOO was designed by architect Bjarke Ingels as a giant Yin and Yang symbol, and Schønherr Landscape Architects designed the interior of the outdoor plant with streams, trees and stones that are intended to make the two panda bears from China feel at home.

- The project has progressed successfully beyond all expectations, and we have met the deadline. Commenting on the process, Christian Houmøller Christensen says, “We have enjoyed a great and close collaboration with the other two major contractors NCC and HedeDanmark”. Altogether, around 50 people have been working at the ZOO to ensure the architect-designed house was completed in time for the big opening in early April 2019. Of these, about 15-20 people focused on the technical details and plumbing.

Copenhagen ZOO expects to see a great number of guests – not just from Denmark, but also from abroad. Only a few zoos in Europe feature pandas, so the ZOO expects them to be a massive attraction. The panda house opens to the public on 11 April 2019.