Tecton Group the leaders in bringing continental modernism to Britain. The group's first commission was the 1932-1934 gorilla house in the London Zoo in Regent's Park. After the successful completion of the gorilla house, the group designed a penguin pool for the zoo, which contained a unique double helix-shaped walkway without intermediate supports for the penguins and a large swimming area. The group's successes at the London Zoo resulted in their designing two other zoos: Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire and Dudley Zoo in West Midlands. The group then designed the Highpoint I tower, an apartment complex in Highgate. The complex set a
Zoo (book) watched. The game was a dull game, but I met a number of old boys and we stood each other beer in glaring sun." The final chapter of the book, 'Whipsnade and Last Words', describes a visit to Whipsnade Zoo on August 18, 1938, and a last visit to London Zoo on a wet Wednesday evening a few days before. After the manuscript was delivered to its publisher, MacNeice went on holiday to Hampshire, where he began his long poem Autumn Journal. Some phrases and images from "Zoo" reappear in "Autumn Journal": "As I write this on Primrose Hill I