Higley served as Construction Manager at Risk for the Asian Highlands exhibit at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. This $5.2 Million project features Snow Leopards, Amur Leopards, Red Panda, and Takin. The new themed holding and conservation building is constructed of timber framing, masonry with custom precast details, and includes 30’ of viewing glass. Each pane of glass is made up of (3) layers of 3/8” glass with Iconoclastic Interlayer. The conservation area includes custom interactives and AV systems to educate and entertain visitors. The Leopard Holding area features separate secure containment areas for Snow Leopards and Amur Leopards with separate HVAC systems. Custom overhead shifts were fabricated to move Leopards from the outdoor yards, overhead to two front yards. Leopards can lay in the overhead “moon gate” over top of the visitor path. The exhibit features (4) Leopard yards surrounding the holding building. Exhibit yards are fully enclosed in hand-woven stainless-steel mesh  and have custom built structures to allow the Leopards to jump and climb. Two exhibit yards also feature caves that are cooled utilizing a chilled water system pumped through the cave structure. A separate Red Panda holding building was constructed with direct access to the Red Panda yard.

PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS

• Phased the project approvals into (2) GMPs to allow for an accelerated start to clearing, sitework, & foundations, while other project details were finalized.
• Higley Value Engineered the chiller system for cooling the Leopard Caves, saving approximately $150,000.
• Higley assisted the design team with designing the building roof framing to create the desired roof flares that are typical to traditional Asian structures.