How can aquariums make greater use of the space directly above the main tank? This question was at the heart of an initiative to create an unique and memorable experience for visitors to the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, at The Dubai Mall.
AAT helped the team at Dubai Aquarium realize their vision to ‘float’ a partially submerged fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) platform with see-through walls and a central cylinder on the surface of the water in the main tank.
Visitors get onto the platform by walking down a set of steps. Once there, they can feed the animals and have an intimate experience with fish swimming all around the platform’s transparent walls and into the cylinder at the center.
There’s even a transparent floor to see everything directly below, including the occasional diver.
The acrylic cylinder, 5 viewing panels, and custom design combine to provide an immersive fish feeding experience like no other.
Installing a new exhibit or upgrading facilities in an existing aquarium is rarely straightforward. In this case, AAT crafted the 6 x 3.9-meter platform – built off-site at our global production hub – for delivery in 5 sections. Each of the sections was customized to fit through the passageways and spaces that provided access to the space above the main tank. Access pathways were so limited that each piece had to be floated to the point of assembly across the surface of the water.
The Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo is a signature attraction at The Dubai Mall, the world’s second-largest shopping centre by land area and the most-visited shopping and leisure destination on Earth (84 million shoppers in 2019).
With 33,000 animals, world-recording-breaking viewing panels, a 270-degree walkthrough tunnel and an underwater zoo, the aquarium is exceptional.
AAT regularly helps established aquariums enhance, renovate and expand their exhibits and customer experiences as part of our Restoration and Upgrade services.
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