Aquarium Design | The Aquarium of San Sebastian | Hoz Fontan Arquitectos

The Aquarium of San Sebastian has been lodged for more than 100 years in a building on Mount Urgull's feet, in one of the most visible zones of La Concha Bay. It is an institution for which its own building, while being at the same time its identity seal, had become an obstacle for its progress. Divided in two parts, the built-in facilities in the last years were developed in contiguous spaces to the mount, whereas the exhibition area was located at a building in intense contact with the sea. Despite their inner connection, they were divided by the stairs which connect the two levels of one of the most important strolls of the city, the 'Paseo Nuevo', that lost integrity when arriving to the surrounding area of the Aquarium, turning into just simple stairs that connected with the port. The facilities acquired in the last years would have to be redefined, the building that shelters the exhibition completely renewed, a public elevator should connect the two levels of the new stroll and a new restaurant would have to be constructed in the present building's cover................more

Munich Sealife | Munich Olympic Park at Oberwiesenfeld, Germany | Kay Elliott Architects

Munich Olympic Park at Oberwiesenfeld, Germany, was formerly an airfield but developed to stage the 1972 summer Olympics. The original use of the park has long since gone, but the site remains a dominant cultural and sporting venue which has attracted over 170 million paying visitors since 1972 and also provides the backdrop for architecture provided by some of the worlds greatest designers including Gunther Behnisch and Frei Otto.
Kay Elliott’s partially grass roofed sunken structure, opened one week early, covers 2,200 square metres and houses over 30 aquariums including the 400,000 litre 7m deep sea exhibit. The centre provides an entertaining but educational insight into some of Europe’s endagered aqautic ecosystems.

The Aquarium of San Sebastian | Hoz Fontan Arquitectos

The Aquarium of San Sebastian is staying for more than 100 years in a building at the foot of Mount Urgull, one of the most visible areas of the bay from the shell.
It is an institution for its own building, while hallmark, had become an obstacle to their progress. Divided into two parts, the facilities built in recent years were developed in areas adjacent to the mountain, while the exhibition area was in a building in close contact with the sea.
Although united internally, they were divided by the stairs connecting the two levels of one of the most important trips of the city, the new promenade, which lost integrity to get to the Aquarium area, becoming a simple ladder reaching the port.
The facilities acquired in recent years should be redefined, the building that houses the exhibition, completely renovated, a public elevator would connect the two levels of the new tour and a new restaurant should be built on the roof of the existing building.

This strategy uses the peripheral components of the program to streamline the internal workings of the museum institution. The restaurant built in the current building housing the Aquarium ensures operation during construction, while defining a square where the tour again becomes a lookout over the bay of La Concha. The public elevator is part of the colonization of the low surrounding the Aquarium as areas of flow management in and out, allowing a total rethinking of the internal circulation of the building, and thus the museum experience.....more

Aquarium Design | Enoshima Aquarium In Kanagawa, Japan By nikken.jp

This aquarium and marine land complex offers a cultural experience where visitors can enjoy and learn about the stunning coastline of Sagami Bay. The aquarium contains a huge 1,000-ton tank including a large school of 8,000 sardines, display tanks for deep-sea creatures and exhibition spaces. At Marine Land, visitors can enjoy performances by dolphins, seals, and other sea animals. The Dolphin Show Stadium and the entrance plazas are designed as outdoor spaces covered with massive steel-framed roofs and visitors can overlook the present natural surroundings of Sagami Bay from the Seashore Deck, on the second floor.....more

Owner: Enoshima PFI Corporation
Location: Kanagawa, Japan
Site area: 160,878.63 sq.m.
Building area: 7,039.50 sq.m.
Total floor are: 13,800.41 sq.m.
Structure: RC / S Floors 2 aboveground, 1 underground
Building height: 9.95 m
Construction period: Jul 2002 - Mar 2004
Info: Co-designed by Taisei Corporation

Henning Larsen Architects Architecture | Batumi Aquarium | Batumi, Republic Of Georgia

Batumi Aquarium is inspired by the characteristic pebbles of the Batumi beach – the residue of dynamic seas continually shaping the shorefront throughout millennia. The aquarium will be situated in the Georgian port of Batumi and will stand out as an iconic rock formation – visible from both land and sea.

The formation constitutes four self-supporting exhibition areas where each of the four stones represents a unique marine biotype – the Mediterranean, the Black Sea/Red Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Indian Ocean. The four dispersed aquarium exhibitions are connected by a central, multipurpose space including café, auditorium and retail functions with views of the black sea and Batumi beach as scenic backdrop. Visitors gather in the central space to convene, play, eat, shop and relax before continuing their adventures through the exhibitions.

Batumi Aquarium will become a modern, cultural aquarium offering visitors an educational, entertaining and visually stimulating journey through the different seas. Unfolding around the aquarium, a landscape of different sea archipelagos provides attractive opportunities for innovative outdoor research and learning, public space and meeting places along the beach.

The building's significant expression inspired by nature will not only make Batumi Aquarium a spectacular new landmark in Georgia but also a state-of-the-art contribution to exploring life underneath the sea surface.

The project team from Henning Larsen Architects includes Louis Becker (design director, partner) Anders Park (project manager), Viggo Haremst (design responsible), Michael Sørensen and Jaewoo Chun.

Mora River Aquarium -Promontorio Architecture-Mora, Alentejo, Portugal

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The River Aquarium is located in Mora, a small municipality in the Northern Alentejo region. Given the need to shift regional development from the dependence of an increasingly weaker agriculture economy into the environmental tourism and leisure market, the municipality launched a design-and-build competition for an aquarium that could somehow embody the paradigms of biodiversity of the Iberian river.

Integrated in the Ecological Wild Park of Gameiro and bordering the Raia stream, the aquarium stands amidst a secluded field of cork and olive trees removed from the more intense leisure and fishing activities of the river. The plot’s gently undulating topography forms a basin at the confluence of two small watercourses. Placing the aquarium at the edge of this quasi-natural retaining lake brought together the fundamental relation between its thematic contents and the presence of fresh water.


Architects: Promontorio Architecture
Location: Mora, Alentejo, Portugal
Project Team: João Perloiro, João Luís Ferreira, Paulo Perloiro, Paulo Martins Barata, Pedro Appleton
Collaborators: J. Cancela, A. Braga, R. Correia, S. Reis, R. Henriques
Client: Municipalidad de Mora
Contractor: Teixeira Duarte, SA
Site Area: 17 Ha
Constructed Area: 3.000 sqm
Construction year: 2004-2006
Budget: US $3,000/sqm
Photographs: João Morgado
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New York Aquarium at Coney Island | Smith+Miller+Hawkins Arch-

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Text from the architect:

New York Aquarium Perimeter Vision Design.
Our proposal for the New York City Aquarium derives from a nuanced understanding of the impact of nature,technology and mass culture on the small stretch of sand that is Coney Island.
The project has two parts.
The Wave fence is multivalent surface surrounding the aquarium.The sandscape is an artificial dune concealing a parking garage below.
Like the aquarium itself both are technological versions of nature, luring visitors into the world of ocean, both aquarium and antlantic.


Location:Brooklyn, NY
Client:Wildlife Conservation Society, New York Aquarium, and New York City Economic Development Corporation

Collaborators:with Scape Landscape Architecture and Tillet Lighting Design

Architect:smith +miller+hawkins arch

Aquarium and Aviary, Batumi, Georgia | Zvi Hecker

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The design is an expression of the way the two primordial elements; water and air, brought about the chain of evolution on earth from fish to birds and finally to humans.
The combination of the two forms, the one transparent and the other solid, creates an architectural ensemble of simplicity and strength.
Aquarium & Aviary Batumi - images / text from Zvi Hecker Architects

Oceanographic Museum | OZEANEUM | Stralsund, Baltic Coast, northeast Germany | Behnisch Architekten

OZEANEUM - Project Data:
Ozeaneum, Stralsund
Client: Deutsches Meeresmuseum Stralsund
Building address: Ozeaneum, Hafenstraße 11, Nördliche Hafeninsel, 18439 Stralsund
Competition: 2001
Project Start: 2005
Project Completion: 2008
Gross: 17,300 m²
Effective Surface Area: 8,700 m²
Volume: 90,900 m3

Architects: Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart (Stefan Behnisch, David Cook, Martin Haas)
The new Oceanographic Museum OZEANEUM is located on the city’s historic waterfront immediately adjacent to the historic centre which has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With a striking skyline of restored warehouses and visible traces of its former use, the entire port island district remains to this day an autonomous, distinctive architectural monument on the outskirts of the historic city centre. The OZEANEUM building relates to the sea, rather than to the buildings of the old town.
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Shark Exhibit Building Coney Island, NY-Slade Architecture

Part of text by Slade Architecture:
New York City is redeveloping Coney Island: reviving its historic identity as a world famous amusement and recreation destination. The recently completed redevelopment master plan identifies several Coney Island “Icons” as the key elements. The Parachute Jump and the New York Aquarium are two of these icons and together they anchor the two ends of the Coney Island Boardwalk. Prior to the creation of the redevelopment master plan, the Wildlife Conservation Society, working with an exhibit design firm, had developed a design for a new shark exhibit building at the Aquarium. Because of the building’s location on the boardwalk, the Coney Island development Corporation and the New York Economic Development Corporation requested that the Aquarium hire a design firm to redesign the proposed structure to be the iconic marker for the aquarium on the boardwalk. Our firm was selected from a shortlist and RFP process.

The Blue PlanetCopenhagen, Denmark-SHL

Area:
9,000m²

Competition type:
Limited, international - 2008

Client:
Bygningsfonden Den Blå Planet

Engineer:
ALECTIA A/S

Aquarium for South Harbor,Helsinki, Finland

TYPE:
Commission

STATUS:
In progress

PROGRAM:
9.000 Sea Aquarium

SITE:
The South Harbor area in the Helsinki Center.

DESCRIPTION:
The main new tourist attraction for the renewed Southern Harbor area.

CLIENT:
City of Helsinki

TEAM:
ALA: Juho Grönholm, Antti Nousjoki, Janne Teräsvirta, Samuli Woolston
with Aleksi Niemeläinen, Sami Mikonheimo Jani Koivula

Muritzeum /Freshwater Aquarium By Wingardh Arkitektkontor

Architects: Wingårdh Arkitektkontor
Location: Waren (Müritz), Germany
Architects team: Gert Wingårdh, Gunilla Murnieks, Therese Ahlström, Joakim Lyth, Ulrika Davidsson, Peter Öhman, Björn Nilsson, Liselott Jademyr, Maria Olausson, Anna Palm, Mats Bengtsson, Sara Helder
Construction Year: 2005-2007
Partner in Germany: DGI Bauwerk, Berlin Germany
Contractor: Landlord/owner - Landkreis Müritz
Landscape: NOD, Stockholm, Sweden
Constructed Area: 3,137 sqm
Photographer: Wingardh
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