Archinect - News

LMN Architects' Seattle Aquarium expansion receives $1M Murdock Trust grant

2023-07-17T16:59:00-04:00

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust gave the Seattle Aquarium a $1 million grant toward the construction of the new Ocean Pavilion, the Trust announced Tuesday.

The grant will support the completion of the Seattle Aquarium’s new $160 million Ocean Pavilion, which was designed by LMN Architects. The expansion will add 50,000 square feet of exhibits, theatrical spaces, and support areas. It will integrate a series of public pathways that provide vertical connections between multiple levels of plazas. The pavilion sits adjacent to the Seattle Aquarium’s current location on the Seattle waterfront. Construction on the project began in 2020 and is currently in Phase 4, which entails the creation of the interior habitats and spaces, the public rooftop, the elevator and stairs, and the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and animal life support systems.

Previously on Archinect: LMN Architects’ 'sweeping' Seattle Aquarium expansion sees significant construction progress

The Ocean Pavilion forms part of a $750 million project by Seattle to redevelop the city’s waterfront, which includes the creation of public parks and cultural spaces. The pavilion has...

Berlin's world-record AquaDom fish tank attraction is kaput after apparent accident

2022-12-16T13:01:00-05:00

A giant aquarium containing a million litres of water in the lobby of the Radisson Blu in Berlin has burst, flooding the hotel and nearby streets. A spokesman for Berlin's fire brigade told the BBC the vast majority of the fish had died, and the cold weather had made rescue attempts more difficult. The tank had contained more than 100 different specie. A police source told local media there is no evidence the break was the result of a targeted attack.

The reportedly €12.8 million ($13.85 million USD) feature inside the central Mitte district’s Radisson Blu Hotel is considered to be the largest cylindrical fish tank in the world and was, until the accident, home to 1,500 fish. Only two human injuries were reported.

The current cold snap that’s testing the country’s morbid winter heating concerns is thought to be the culprit. Berlin police were forced to close a busy stretch of Karl-Liebknecht Street as a result of the damage.

There are no indications of a targeted, violent attack on the large aquarium in central Berlin, police say.

The fire brigade added that the giant tank "burst abruptly."

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— DW News (@dwnews) December 16, 2022

LMN Architects’ 'sweeping' Seattle Aquarium expansion sees significant construction progress

2022-12-14T11:34:00-05:00

Construction has commenced on the $160 million expansion to the Seattle Aquarium. Designed by LMN Architects, the new Ocean Pavilion is expected to open in 2024, and will form part of the campus’ vision of becoming “the world’s first planet-positive aquarium.”

Project construction led by Turner. Video courtesy of Turner Construction.

Along the waterfront, the pavilion’s massing is formed of sweeping geometries that integrate a series of public pathways. The multi-level plazas created by the landscape will become part of a network of open spaces along the waterfront, including the adjacent Overlook Walk designed by James Corner Field Operations, Miller Hull, Jacobs, and the City of Seattle.

Image credit: LMN Architects

Inside, the new waterfront pavilion will include 50,000 square feet of immersive exhibits, theatrical spaces, and support areas, in what LMN call an “engaging human environment linking the city, waterfront, and ocean.” The central exhibit of the pavilion will be the 3...

Chicago's Shedd Aquarium announces $500 million 'Centennial Commitment'

2022-01-20T17:14:00-05:00

Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium is about to make a big splash — over the next eight years. The venerable cultural institution on Monday announced its Centennial Commitment, a $500 million transformation of the aquarium culminating in 2030, the Shedd’s 100th anniversary.

The eight-year project will be split into four phases and commence later this year. The first phase will cover major interior renovations, including the modernization of the original six historic galleries, enhancement of all animal habitats, the restoration of the original walls of windows, and the revitalization of the public spaces and general amenities.

More than half of the project’s budget will be directed towards both on and offsite educational programming related to restoration, rewilding, and rescue. On a rolling basis, new galleries, programs, and experiences will open throughout the duration of the project. According to the Shedd Aquarium, the Valerio Dewalt Train-led transformation is slated to create more than 2,000 jobs in Illinois and garner more than $340 million in economic activity.

The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach makes a splash with its new expansion "Pacific Visions"

2019-05-22T20:44:00-04:00

Pacific Visions is unlike any other aquarium expansion project. We are taking a unique, unconventional approach in creating a space where the focus is on the one species that is affecting all others on Earth: humans. Pacific Visions is a place where scientists, policymakers, and the public can come together to explore solutions to create a better future for all.”

Since its debut on June 20, 1998, the Aquarium of the Pacific has been an iconic landmark and public attraction to the city of Long Beach. The 5-acre public aquarium attracts over 1.5 million visitors a year. The aquarium features over 11,000 animals with an emphasis on exhibits highlighting information about the animals, their habitat, and conservation efforts.

The Aquarium of the Pacific. Image © Tom Bonner

Honda Pacific Visions Theatre - The Aquarium of the Pacific. Image © Tom Bonner

With the expansion taking over two years to complete, the $53-million project will make its official debut on Friday, May 24. The new expansion, called Pacific Visions, is a two-story, 29,000 square foot structure which will offer interactive exhibitions, an art gallery, and 300-seat theatre.

The Aquarium of the Pacific. Image © Tom Bonner

The structural form of the expansion is designed by San Francisco- based architecture firm EHDD. Its biomorphic shap...

The risky business of city aquariums

2018-06-06T15:05:00-04:00

To some boosters, your city is only one world-class visitor attraction away from economic prosperity. That pitch has been used to sell and endless series of public subsidies for baseball parks, football stadiums, basketball and hockey arenas, convention centers (and their appurtenant “headquarters hotels”) and starchitect-designed museum buildings. To that long list, we might add aquariums.

Joe Cortright CityCommentary piece on the promise and perils of city aquariums.

3XN + Gerner Gerner Plus propose undulating aquarium at Vienna's Schönbrunn Zoo

2018-04-25T15:04:00-04:00

3XN and Austrian firm GERNER GERNER PLUS unveiled a new aquarium scheme titled “Poseidon's Realm”, which won second place in an international competition of the Schönbrunn Zoo in Vienna (A winner is yet to be announced). Working with aquarium specialists ATT, the team designed the aquarium with an undulating silhouette so that it appears like “a great, mysterious veil” across the zoo's landscape.

Image © 3XN.

Covering 6,000 m2 (65,000 sq.ft), the building is divided into four levels and topped with a green roof that is embedded within the zoo's path network — plus, the roof houses a bearded vulture aviary.

The aquarium features a glazed, wave-shaped welcome entrance that leads visitors into a “waterworld” tour. Changing temperatures, ambient sounds, lighting, and ceiling heights add to the experience. The main path widens into smaller bays that lead to individual tanks, creating a more intimate experience between visitors and aquatic life. At the end of the tour is a gi...

Lissoni Architettura Conceptualizes a Submerged Aquarium in the East River

2016-05-11T14:36:00-04:00

A lower level would contain the actual aquarium, while the higher level would be a floating green island. At night, the island would slide to cover the island and turn into a planetarium, its movement resembling that of a shell. A sloping beachfront would cover the parking area, and a public park would connect the mainland with the new basin.

Milan-based firm Lissoni Architettura created the winning entry for Arch Out Loud's ideas competition for a NYC aquarium and public waterfront. They propose a submerged aquarium called NYCAquatrium that will be located in a new basin along the Long Island City waterfront.

3XN-Designed ‘The Blue Planet’ about to Open as Northern Europe’s Largest Aquarium

2013-03-20T14:39:00-04:00

Back in July of 2008, we reported that 3XN had won the international design competition for Denmark's new The Blue Planet aquarium with an exciting whirlpool-shaped proposal right outside of Copenhagen. Now the inauguration day of the completed building has come, and the $127M-aquarium will officially open to the public this Friday, March 22.

Basel Aquarium Entry by HHF and BURCKHARDT+PARTNER

2012-12-24T14:01:00-05:00

Only a few days ago, we published the winning entries of the Basel Ozeanium Aquarium competition with Boltshauser Architekten taking the First Place. Here is now also the winner of the Second Place, the entry "Watergate" by collaborating Swiss firms HHF and BURCKHARDT+PARTNER.

Boltshauser Architekten Wins Basel Aquarium Competition, Zaha Hadid only 3rd

2012-12-13T14:26:00-05:00

In the international architectural competition for the new 'Ozeanium' Aquarium in Basel, Switzerland, the proposal 'Seacliff' by Boltshauser Architekten has been selected as the winning entry. The Zurich-based firm beat out tough competition from big architectural names, like Zaha Hadid Architects, who came in third, or David Chipperfield Architects, MVRDV, and Behnisch Architekten who only made the shortlist.