The Oasis (L'Oasis), Pairi Daiza's large greenhouse

Pairi Daiza began as Paradisio, a park devoted at first to birds, on the estate of the former Cistercian abbey of Cambron at Cambron-Casteau. French Wikipedia credits its creation to Éric Domb and dates the opening to 11 May 1994, adding that the park was modelled on the Walsrode bird park; the English version refers to the Domb family and an opening in 1993. The two versions also differ on when the park was renamed Pairi Daiza, 2009 or 2010; according to the English version, the name means 'walled garden'.

The Oasis belongs to this first generation of facilities. French Wikipedia dates its opening to 2000, while the English version says only that it existed by then. The large greenhouse extends the park's original focus on birds: it takes the form of a tropical forest explored on foot, among birds living in semi-freedom. The sources consulted name neither the architect nor the builder.

The park has grown a great deal since, receiving about two million visitors in 2018 according to English Wikipedia. The Oasis now belongs to the Cambron-L'Abbaye world, and the official website presents it mainly through its restaurant. Since 7 February 2026 it has no longer been the park's largest greenhouse: Edenya, opened some 300 metres to the east, covers about four hectares.

The Oasis is a giant greenhouse of 7,000 m², a figure given by the official website and by both language versions of Wikipedia; in OpenStreetMap the building, tagged as a greenhouse, traces an irregular footprint of about 7,800 m². Its distinctive feature is a movable roof: according to the park, it opens in fine weather or great heat and closes when the weather turns dull or cold, so the space can switch from a closed glasshouse climate to an open-air atmosphere.

The interior is laid out as a lush forest. Pools and waterfalls, mentioned by Wikipedia, shape a 'walking safari' route along which birds move freely, and the sound of a waterfall accompanies the restaurant, set among exotic trees, cacti and flowers. The supporting structure, the roofing materials and the opening mechanism are not described in the sources consulted. The comparison with Edenya, a greenhouse of about four hectares opened in 2026 to the east of the park, shows how far the site has developed in a quarter of a century.

The planting combines tropical trees, bananas and vines, named by French Wikipedia, with bamboo and hibiscus, mentioned in the English version; the official website refers to exotic trees, cacti and flowers around the restaurant.

The fauna is above all made up of birds, many of them living in semi-freedom; the park highlights a hornbill. The Wikipedia lists, which do not match from one language to the other and may be out of date, also name Seychelles giant tortoises, silvery-cheeked hornbills, Pesquet's parrots, white-crested turacos, dwarf mongooses, bear cuscuses, cotton-top tamarins, white-faced sakis and gliders in the French version, and toucanets, bear cuscuses, dwarf mongooses, hornbills and southern bald ibises in the English one. The exact make-up of the collection therefore changes over time.

The Oasis lies in the Cambron-L'Abbaye world, which the park describes as a realm of birds, gardens and relaxation, to the west of Edenya. It fits easily into a day at Pairi Daiza, especially at lunchtime, since the self-service restaurant, serving Belgian dishes, stands among the birds.

The movable roof makes it a shelter for every season: closed in cold or grey weather, the greenhouse opens on fine days and in great heat. A visit combines naturally with the large Edenya greenhouse a few hundred metres away and with the park's other worlds, from the Kingdom of Ganesha to the Middle Kingdom.