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A thatched-roof, five-story building nestled on a rock outcropping,
or kopje, that provides a scenic vista over a 33-acre savannah that
more than 200 mammals and exotic birds call home. A grand six-story
lobby filled with rich colors, traditional African fabrics and hand-carved
furnishings. A crackling fire and bubbling indoor stream. The exotic
aroma of authentic culinary creations.
Capturing the sensory delights and adventure of an African wildlife
reserve lodge, while incorporating the luxury facilities and amenities
that guests have come to expect from a Disney resort, was the overall
design goal for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
The collaborative team of Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) and Urban
Design Group, Inc. of Denver, design architect, has created a 74-acre,
1,293-room oasis resort that transports guests to a world rich in
culture and natural wonder.
“Like our other resorts, we wanted Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge
to have a design and character all its own,” says Wing Chao, WDI
executive vice president of Master Planning, Architecture and Design.
“Our primary design challenge was balancing the scale of the project
with the goal of providing an adventurous, yet intimate, environment.
The result is a visually exciting structure that allows guests to
be part of a luxurious African safari experience they cannot get
anyplace else.”
An overview of the architecture, interior design and landscaping
of the lodge offers a fascinating glimpse into how Disney uses consistent
theming, story line and consummate attention to detail to create
innovative spaces.
Distinctive African Theme is Design Foundation
Consistent with all of its projects, WDI grounded its conceptual
design for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge in an overall theme and
story line. Imagineers found inspiration in the ancient wood and
thatch kraal (pronounced crawl), a circular, corral-shaped Southeast
African village design once used by the powerful 19th century chief,
Shaka Zulu. Drawing upon Disney’s story-telling tradition, Imagineers
envisioned a natural spring and rock outcropping that drew animals
to it and a lodge of the early 20th century, where visitors would
share the wonder of the surrounding wildlife and enjoy African art,
culture and hospitality. Set in the present day, the lodge features
the best of modern and traditional worlds.
“We wanted to capture an image that is not only symbolic of Africa,
but also is culturally relevant,” says Jim Kwasnowski, WDI senior
development manager.
The design team extensively researched their subject, taking numerous
treks to Africa on safari, shooting countless rolls of film and
consulting with experts on indigenous art and culture. With Southeastern
Africa as the overarching theme, other sub-themes within the design
of the lodge help tell the epic story: the symbiotic relationship
between the land, animals and man; the interplay of light; and the
celebration of African people and their art. Safari means “journey”
in Swahili, and a visit to the lodge is a journey through these
themes.
Creating an “Architecture of Emotion”
Imagineers modified the kraal into a horseshoe-shaped design to
accommodate the 1,293 guestrooms and 33 acres of savannah, while
providing spectacular views throughout the lodge with minimal visual
intrusion from nearby roadways. Central to the design is a grand,
dome-shaped, thatched-roof lobby, surrounded by guestrooms in a
semi-circle; the design is evocative of an African chief’s hut,
encircled by those of his tribe.
“We have created an architecture of emotion,” says Peter Dominick,
principal of Urban Design Group, Inc., who also designed Disney’s
Wilderness Lodge, the adjacent Disney Vacation Club Villas and Disney’s
Grand Californian Hotel. “The roots of the design are classical,
from how the guest arrives to the space, to how it is organized,
to how it is textured. We’ve just made the design more emotional,
which in turn makes the guest experience that much more powerful.”
That experience begins as guests approach the lodge and are immersed
into an African landscape designed to set the stage for their safari.
To mask the immense size of the lodge (nearly 900,000 square feet),
the team strategically graded the elevation of the land surrounding
the resort, providing only glimpses of the building. Designers planted
large character canopy trees, interspersed with native Floridian
and Mexican palms to provide a tropical look. The plantings clear
to dramatically reveal the main building and porte cochere. Constructed
with steel and overlayed by primitive materials in tones of beige
and brown such as thatch, wood, earth and stone, the lodge appears
to have grown from the very land on which it sits.
Entering on the third floor of the resort, guests step through
an intimate space and into the lodge’s grand lobby, where they are
greeted by an awe-inspiring vista unfolding before them through
a floor-to-ceiling picture window molded by creeping vines. A suspension
bridge high above the lobby floor provides a vantage point for viewing
the wildlife on the savannah.
Locating the lobby at level three and elevating the guest floors
by one level is a unique feature of the design and offered many
advantages, according to Dominick. “It provided a better view across
the savannah, accommodated the centralized kitchen, which required
a two-story space, and enabled us to put back-of-house functions
on level one to minimize interference with the guest experience,”
he says.
Another unique design feature is the use of “bridges” and small
atriums, which heighten the sense of exploration. Bridges are subtle
spaces that bring light into the building and offer guests a more
intimate, framed view of the savannah. Small atriums built into
the corridors on guestroom floors showcase various aspects of African
culture including art, tools and tribal costumes.
Lodge Interiors are Visual Feast
From the minute guests enter Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, they
are treated to a visual feast of detail-rich design elements, bringing
the African experience sharply into focus. A magnificent vaulted
ceiling of thatch and reed are authentic re-creations of hand-constructed
native lodges. Vertical wooden columns are lashed together and topped
by illuminated, warrior mask-inspired ornaments. Wooden panels of
leaping antelope form the lobby’s railing system. Hand-carved furnishings,
textured fabrics, brightly colored pillows, animal motifs and original
art and artifacts punctuate the dramatic space.
A large mud fireplace, fiery torches and Zulu shield chandeliers
supplement the bountiful natural light provided by the lobby’s two
main windows and high dormers. The lobby’s blend of natural and
artificial lighting heightens and extends spectacular sunrises and
sunsets. At night, incandescent lighting resembling the soft glow
of a full moon further captures the ambience of an African adventure.
Guestrooms feature handmade furniture from Zimbabwe, carved headboards
inspired by African butterfly masks, bedspreads and draperies made
of rich tapestries, and authentic artwork. Imagineers addressed
all design elements, down to the smallest detail: each bed is draped
by mosquito netting as befitting a safari; guestroom doors are decorated
by wooden shields; and hallway sconces look like the tops of native
drums.
Other interior spaces throughout the lodge are designed with equal
attention to detail, from the intimate Sunset Lounge located on
the western side of the lobby, to Jiko-The Cooking Place, a specialty
restaurant designed with a more abstract view of Africa.
Further distinguishing the lodge is its collection of authentic
African art and artifacts, which invite guests to delve even deeper
into the culture of that great continent. Guests can journey from
one end of the lodge to the other, passing through the lobby, small
atriums and other spaces, and observe one-of-a-kind pieces, from
hand woven Kente costumes to tools to handcrafted pottery. No two
pieces are exactly the same, and “there’s a story behind each and
every one,” notes WDI’s Chao.
Themed Landscape Design Helps Tell Story
The landscape design for Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge plays a
critical role in communicating the overall theme of the resort.
WDI’s Director of Landscape Design Paul Comstock and a team of designers
and horticultural experts established two primary goals: create
the beautiful and diverse look of an African landscape, and provide
plant material that can be firmly established in the ground to support
the grazing animals. Installing vegetation was the first order of
construction activity at the lodge site, conducted two years prior
to opening and before concrete foundations were poured. Designers
salvaged 36 and relocated 130 large oak trees to the site, planted
fast-growing grasses, dispersed seeds from Africa, and transplanted
165 varieties of shrubs obtained from as far away as California
and Arizona.
On the savannah, varieties of shrubs such as vibirnum wax murtles
and razzleberry, along with grasses like cord grass, bamboo and
veltver grass, evoke the appearance of an African plain. Golden
Dewdrop shrubs add color and definition while attracting butterflies.
The Sweet Acacia also has a bright yellow flower and is plentifully
dispersed throughout the savannah, as it is a main staple for grazing
giraffe.
Elsewhere around the resort, such as near the Uzima Pool, designers
planted large, flowering canopy trees, red and pink hibiscus, bright
clusters of red, orange and scarlet Ixora, fragrant white jasmine
and green date palms to create a tropical feel and accent the earth
tone palette with vibrant colors.
Supporting this vegetation is nearly 24 miles of irrigation pipe.
Designers also built 60,000 square feet of artificial rockwork around
the lodge. On top of Arusha Rock kopje, which guests view from the
lobby, designers planted a Peltophorum dubium, one of the most recognized
trees on the African savannah. Blooming an astonishing array of
bright yellow and velvety-brown flowers and copper pods, the tree
is destined to become the lodge’s most photographed spot.
Focusing lenses on the roaming animals will be a popular pastime
at the lodge as well. Thirty-three acres of rich grasslands are
fully stocked with grazing materials for the more than 200 hoofed
stock and birds representing the African animal palette, including
Thomson’s gazelle, giraffe, zebra, wildebeest, ostrich, pink-backed
pelicans, greater flamingo and East African crowned cranes.
“Integrating live animals with a resort experience is a truly unique
concept,” concludes Chao. “There’s simply no other resort like Disney’s
Animal Kingdom Lodge anywhere else in the world.”
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