Twelve months since Dudley Zoo was awarded funding to start developing renovation plans for a further four Tectons, work has been progressing well.

Last summer the Castle Hill attraction was awarded £120,000 from the Getty Foundation’s Keeping It Modern initiative for repair proposals to be carried out on the Discovery Centre (the former Moat Café), Queen Mary Restaurant (formerly the Castle Restaurant), Tropical Birdhouse and Elephant House ahead of planning and Listed Building submissions.

Work has begun on documenting the condition of the structures and setting out a conservation plan with methods for protecting against decay.

The process includes surveys, concrete testing, paint analysis, photographic recording, design drawings and historic design analysis, referencing back to Berthold Lubetkin’s original design documentation.

The programme of work is expected to be completed by the end of the year when bosses expect to be able to work towards sourcing further funding for the repair work. Dudley Zoo and Castle contains the world’s largest single collection of grade II listed Tecton buildings, which were granted World Monument Status in 2009.

Over the last decade restoration work has already been undertaken on four of the zoo’s remaining 12 structures – the Safari Shop, Entrance, Bear Ravine and Kiosk One – thanks to funding from Heritage Lottery and repair work was also completed on the sealion pools and reptillary enclosure, which is currently home to the attraction’s meerkats.