What’s in the future for zoos? A whirlwind of change, redoubled conservation efforts, and immersive animal-to-human connections, to name just a few of the trends highlighted in the March 6 edition of TIME Magazine.

The Future of Zoos showcases scientific discoveries and breakthroughs unfolding at zoos all over the world. GLMV’s curator of innovation and partnerships, Mike Clifford, is quoted in the article as he discusses the driving force behind all our zoo design – shifting the paradigm, drawing humans into the animals’ worlds, rather than viewing zoos as a place for humans to passively view animals. As Mike says in the article, “that moment at a zoo when a person sees a gorilla look them back in the eye helps them to grasp their role in a greater natural world.” The article goes on to describe how we achieved this with our recent project, The Reed Family Elephants of the Zambezi River Valley habitat in Wichita, Kansas, “where visitors can now ride a boat to see the elephants in a 5-acre exhibit. The boat ride breaks down the barrier between animals and people while giving the elephants room to roam freely.”

Our work constantly comes back to one of the greatest challenges that zoological leaders face today: How do we strike a balance across animal care, entertainment, and education and conservation?

These questions are what get Craig Rhodes, our lead zoological designer, out of bed in the morning. It’s what powers Mike Clifford, our curator of innovation and partnerships, through a grueling travel schedule, visiting zoo after zoo after zoo to talk with directors and keepers alike. It’s what brings all of our zoo crew to the table, their hands covered in ink after a long day of master planning and marker sketching.

But most of all, it’s what drives our firm to work with world-class clients highlighted in the article – clients like Sedgwick County Zoo and the Philadelphia Zoo – to create impactful animal-human connections with design. Through these connections, GLMV hopes to inspire care for the natural world and instill a lifelong spirit of fascination in today’s zoo guests.

GLMV Zoos is dedicated to providing clients with the creative design necessary for a unique zoo experience. For more information on GLMV Zoos’, visit us at glmv.com or call us at (316) 265-9367.

(Click on the link below to read more on the TIME Magazine article: http://time.com/4672990/the-future-of-zoos/)