Adapted and excerpted from an article by Lani McWilliams in AZA Connect, July 2019 | Archived version
In March 2019, staff at Audubon Nature Institute in New Orleans, La., met with CLR Design to dream of the next phase of Africa at Audubon Zoo. Not long into the meeting, the lead architect Mark Beauchamp interjected with, “We’ve heard from your CEO and several staff about the kids next door. We fully understand that we need to think about incorporating views for Children’s Hospital patients into any new giraffe habitat.”
As Audubon Zoo’s next-door neighbor in Uptown New Orleans, Children’s Hospital New Orleans is now a primary audience we consider in internal discussions ranging from inclusion, to guest experiences, to mission integration in visitation-driving initiatives, to habitat design. The vice presidents of development for both organizations speak frankly about goals, needs, cross-over, and opportunities to collaborate and leverage both our missions and brands.