Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium is a world-class facility home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats ranging from small tanks to a giant 400,000-gallon shark tank.
The 65,000-sf facility takes visitors from a shallow tropical shore, following a “warm current into the melting pot of the deep ocean, and is carried via a cold current from the depths, through the ocean’s forests, emerging at a cool Pacific coast,” according to a news release.
Exhibit designs by Spacehaus integrate with architectural cues such as changing light quality, spatial variation, and physical descent. The experience augments unique exhibit designs “to engage visitor’s emotions, spark their curiosity, and build in them a passion for the ocean.”
“This project creates that opportunity for all, introducing visitors to our global ocean by using the concept of marine currents as an interpretive framework,” according to lead architect EHDD.
“Despite holding nearly 650,000 gallons of water in total, the aquarium has obtained a LEED silver certification,” says David Dowell, AIA, principal of El Dorado who led the support architecture team. “Some of the sustainability goals include capturing stormwater on site, significantly reducing water and energy use, and maximizing natural light while also bird-safing the structure through fritted glass.”
The aquarium is the first project in the Kansas City area to use CarbonCure technology, which introduces captured CO₂ into fresh concrete to reduce its carbon footprint by 22%.
The aquarium is now the largest building on the zoo campus. It opens to the zoo’s main pedestrian promenade with an image that is welcoming in scale, and warm in materiality. Located in Swope Park in Kansas City, Mo., the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium, founded in 1909, spans 202 acres and receives about one million visitors per year.
Owner and/or developer: Sobela Ocean Aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo and Aquarium
Design architect: EHDD and El Dorado
MEP engineer: Antella
Structural engineer: Leigh & O'Kane
General contractor/construction manager: JE Dunn
Related Stories
Wood | May 14, 2021
What's next for mass timber design?
An architect who has worked on some of the nation's largest and most significant mass timber construction projects shares his thoughts on the latest design trends and innovations in mass timber.
Cultural Facilities | Apr 1, 2021
A Connecticut firm deploys design to assist underserved people and communities
Hartford, Conn.-based JCJ Architecture traces its roots to 1936, when the U.S. was just coming out of an economic depression and its unemployment rate was still 14%. In 2021, with the country trying to recover economically from the impact of the coronavirus, and with questions about social inequity entering the public debate as rarely before, JCJ has focused its design work on projects and clients that are committed to social responsibility and advocacy, particularly for underserved or marginalized communities.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 1, 2021
Moise Safra Center completes in New York City
The project will act as a second home for the Jewish community it serves.
Market Data | Feb 24, 2021
2021 won’t be a growth year for construction spending, says latest JLL forecast
Predicts second-half improvement toward normalization next year.
Giants 400 | Dec 16, 2020
Download a PDF of all 2020 Giants 400 Rankings
This 70-page PDF features AEC firm rankings across 51 building sectors, disciplines, and specialty services.
Giants 400 | Dec 3, 2020
2020 Cultural Facilities Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. cultural facilities sector
AECOM, Arup, and Populous head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest cultural facilities sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2020 Giants 400 Report.
Government Buildings | Nov 13, 2020
Tax shortfalls nip government projects in the bud
Federal contracts are proceeding, but states and cities are delaying, deferring, and looking for private investment.
Cultural Facilities | Oct 13, 2020
Thailand’s Elephant Museum reinforces the bond between humans and beasts
The complex, in Surin Province, was built with 480,000 clay bricks.
Libraries | Sep 25, 2020
Major renovation to Providence’s downtown library is completed
The $29 million project adds light and collaborative space to a 67-year-old wing.
Cultural Facilities | Sep 24, 2020
America's 11 most endangered historic places - 2020 list
Annually, this list spotlights important examples of our nation’s architectural and cultural heritage that, without applied action and immediate advocacy, will be destroyed or face irreparable damage.
