Sleepy Bird Sanctuary

What a visit is like

It is warm, it is loud in the morning, and the birds are not behind glass.

A bright palm house interior with paths, iron chairs and dense ferns beneath the glass roof

Before you come

  • It sits at 24 degrees and 70 percent humidity. Wear less than you think. There is a coat rack at the entrance and it is always full.
  • Allow ninety minutes. Most people take longer.
  • The main loop is step free and 1.4 metres wide throughout. The upper walk has eleven steps and no lift, and everything visible from it is also visible from the loop.
  • There is no cafe inside the canopy. Food and drink stay in the entrance range.

Inside

  • The birds fly free and will land near you, on a rail, on a bag, occasionally on a shoulder. Let them. Do not reach.
  • No flash. Ever, in any session. It is the one rule staff will interrupt you for.
  • Buggies are fine on the main loop and there is a park by the north doors.
  • Phones on silent everywhere, and away entirely in the Drowse.

The Drowse specifically

  • Ages 12 and over. This is not about behaviour, it is about ninety minutes of sitting still in the heat, which is genuinely hard.
  • Doors close at 14:00 and do not reopen. If you miss it you miss it, and we will move you to another day.
  • No photography of any kind, including phones. The room is very dark and any screen carries across the whole range.
  • There are forty seats. You will be given one.

The four sessions

Prices in Canadian dollars. Sessions release on the first of each month.

SessionTimePlacesAdult
Dawn Chorus06:45 to 09:0090$24.00
Bloom Hours09:30 to 13:30240$28.00
The DrowseAges 12 and over14:00 to 15:3040$34.00
Lantern HoursMay to September18:30 to 21:00120$38.00

Getting here

Twelve minutes on foot from the river bridge, signed from the high street. Nine parking spaces including two accessible bays, and an overflow field open in summer. The 41 bus stops at the top of Nursery Lane.

Site plan of Sleepy Bird SanctuaryA schematic plan. The entrance range runs along the south side. Inside it, the glasshouse holds a single continuous main loop around a central planting bed, with the four session areas spaced around it: Dawn Chorus north west, Bloom Hours north east, the Drowse south west and Lantern Hours south east. The upper walk is a raised gallery along the north half of the loop only. The north range sits outside the canopy at the top of the plan and is closed to visitors. The boiler house stands on the west side of the loop.123456
Site plan of the sanctuary. The numbers are keyed below.
  • Entrance range. Tickets, coat rack, and the only place food and drink are allowed.
  • Main loop. Step free and 1.4 metres wide the whole way round. Buggies are fine here.
  • Upper walk. Eleven steps and no lift. Everything visible from it is also visible from the loop.
  • North range. Not open to visitors. Everything that arrives spends ninety days here first.
  • Boiler house. The original 1874 plant, kept as it was found. The first light walk turns back here.
  • North doors. Buggy park.
  • Dawn Chorus
  • Bloom Hours
  • The Drowse
  • Lantern Hours

Fewer than 15 places left means a published capacity band, not a live count. Nothing on this site reads a database, because there is no database.

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Concept site Orange Fin

Sleepy Bird Sanctuary is a fictional venue. This site is a design concept built by Orange Fin Agency to show what we make for venues that sell timed entry. Nothing on it can be booked or bought.

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