The Giraffe House was built following the acquisition of London Zoo’s first four giraffes, Selim, Mabrouk, Guib-allah and Zaida. It was built in 1836–37 and designed by Decimus Burton. It was bomb damaged in 1940 and had to be mainly rebuilt 1960–63. It is a Grade II listed building. The giraffe enclosure featured a high-level viewing platform to give the public face-to-face contact with the giraffes. The 1837 Giraffe House is the oldest zoo building in the world still used for its original purpose.

To find out more about ZSL architecture and buildings, search the ZSL catalogue. Please note, the archive does not hold the plans of existing buildings as they are in active use.