The National Aquarium in Baltimore has opened the National Aquarium Harbor Wetland, a 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the Inner Harbor’s original Chesapeake Bay tidal marsh habitat. Located between Piers 3 and 4 on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the $14 million project features more than 32,000 native shrubs and marsh grasses.
With Ayers Saint Gross as the architect of record and Whiting-Turner as the construction contractor, the project is based on sustainable innovations developed by the Aquarium’s conservation and exhibit fabrication teams. At the project’s start about a decade ago, Studio Gang participated as the original concept architects.
“Harbor Wetland is the culmination of 12 years of research, innovation, and determination,” Aquarium president and CEO John Racanelli said in a press statement.
Ayers Saint Gross worked with the National Aquarium to design a sustainable, high-performing floating wetland intended to restore natural habitats and improve biodiversity and water quality. The project aims to reverse years of environmental degradation while creating a renewed, thriving ecosystem. The design features layered topography, with planting surfaces at tiered elevations to promote a variety of microhabitats and attract a greater diversity of species to the area.
![Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat_Completed-0007.jpg)
Free and open to the public, the constructed wetland serves as a floating classroom for the community. Interpretive signage allows guests to learn about the wetland, the species drawn to it, seasonal changes, and the surrounding harbor.
Featuring docks, walkways, and shade cover, the habitat is composed of recycled plastic matting planted with native tidal wetland shrubs and grasses, whose roots will grow down into the water. This provides microhabitats for native species while drawing nutrients and contaminants from the water. Coated with a UV protectant for durability, the matting is fixed to a system of air-regulated pontoons that allow for adjustable buoyancy of the wetland, offsetting weight gain from growing biomass.
Compressed air is pumped into the channel to circulate water through the wetland’s shallow channel. Bubbles from the compressed air release oxygen into the water—benefiting aquatic species and keeping water moving through the wetland as it would during tidal changes in a natural tidal marsh.
“We hear so much negative talk about Inner Harbor water quality, but there is life in this water and there always has been,” Jack Cover, the Aquarium’s general curator, said in the statement. “My hope is that when people see the life this wetland attracts, from tiny microorganisms to fishes, crabs, water birds, and even small mammals like muskrats and otters—all of which we’re already seeing here—they might reconsider our local waterways and perhaps even take better care of our natural surroundings.”
![Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat%20Exhibits_HW_Mural-0022.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat_Completed-0003.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat_Completed-0006.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat_Completed-0007_0.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat_Completed-0014.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat-0001.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat-0004.jpg)
![Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat. Photo: Philip Smith, National Aquarium](/sites/default/files/inline-images/Baltimore%E2%80%99s%20National%20Aquarium%20opens%2010%2C000-sf%20floating%20wetland%20that%20mimics%20the%20harbor%E2%80%99s%20original%20tidal%20marsh%20habitat-0008.jpg)
Related Stories
| Nov 18, 2014
Fan of the High Line? Check out NYC's next public park plan (hint: it floats)
Backed by billionaire Barry Diller, the $170 million "floating park" is planned for the Hudson River, and will contain wooded areas and three performance venues.
| Nov 17, 2014
'Folded facade' proposal wins cultural arts center competition in South Korea
The winning scheme by Seoul-based Designcamp Moonpark features a dramatic folded facade that takes visual cues from the landscape.
| Nov 14, 2014
Bjarke Ingels unveils master plan for Smithsonian's south mall campus
The centerpiece of the proposed plan is the revitalization of the iconic Smithsonian castle.
| Nov 12, 2014
Chesapeake Bay Foundation completes uber-green Brock Environmental Center, targets Living Building certification
More than a decade after opening its groundbreaking Philip Merrill Environmental Center, the group is back at it with a structure designed to be net-zero water, net-zero energy, and net-zero waste.
| Nov 12, 2014
Designs by three finalists for new Beethoven concert hall unveiled
David Chipperfield and Valentiny are among the finalists for a new concert hall being built to commemorate Beethoven’s 250th birthday in his hometown of Bonn, Germany.
| Nov 7, 2014
NORD Architects releases renderings for Marine Education Center in Sweden
The education center will be set in a landscape that includes small ponds and plantings intended to mimic an assortment of marine ecologies and create “an engaging learning landscape” for visitors to experience nature hands-on.
| Oct 20, 2014
UK's best new building: Everyman Theatre wins RIBA Stirling Prize 2014
The new Everyman Theatre in Liverpool by Haworth Tompkins has won the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize 2014 for the best building of the year. Now in its 19th year, the RIBA Stirling Prize is the UK’s most prestigious architecture prize.
Sponsored | | Oct 19, 2014
The Exploration Tower in Port Canaveral dazzles visitors
With a mission to provide the experience of a lifetime, the Exploration Tower at Port Canaveral, Fla., is designed to inspire, as visitors learn about the history and nature of the port and beyond. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 19, 2014
White House Visitor Center reopens in Washington, D.C.
Designed by SmithGroupJJR and Gallagher & Associates, renovated center shows public its unique role as office, stage, museum, park, and home.
| Oct 17, 2014
OMA, OLIN design unanimously chosen for D.C. elevated park
In the design, the ends of the bridge are pulled upward to form an "X" shape. It allows ample room for add-ons such as a cafe and performance space, in addition to open space for plazas, lawns, and urban agriculture plots.