30 per cent in the future, as at some point the operators will build a large tank for whales. With our whirlpool shape, they can add on to it as much as they want because it never ends. We won the bid four years ago, so it’s been quite a speedy process. We had two years to do the drawings and ten- dering and then two years to build. It’s been a very smooth process.
What were the design challenges? There are 53 aquariums and displays, containing seven million litres of water and 20,000 sea animals. Also, there’s a lot of technology in the building and as many square metres underneath and on top of the public spaces, which are laboratories for cleaning the water and preparing it. It was a big challenge to contain all this within the building. So much has been done to get the animals’ environments right. We’ve worked with specialists Advanced Aquarium Technologies to ensure they have the correct lighting, amount of water and size tanks. Another difficulty is that it’s a very
aggressive environment, with salt water and damp, so it was difficult to make a construction that can be upstanding and sustainable for a long time, both inside and out. The building is on the tip of the water and in winter it’s freez-
AM 2 2013 ©cybertrek 2013
Lighting and sound have been used to give visitors the illusion of being beneath the sea when inside the aquarium
ing and very windy, so it’s a challenging place to build in every way. It wasn’t just about solving each problem physi- cally – we also had to solve them within budget, which was the real challenge.
What’s in the outdoor areas? The design didn’t stop with the build- ing – it spread to the outside. Moe & Brodsgaard designed the overall planning and layout of the external areas. The building extends beyond the original coastline, so visitors can look out across the sea from inside the aquarium. There’s a lake with carps and sea lions and a 15m (49ft)-high display of the Faroe Islands’ bird cliff, which is home to many birds, including puffins. Siki sharks, halibuts and catfish swim in the sea beneath. There are also outdoor play areas, picnic sites and a pond. Bushes have been planted around the
car park, so in time the cars won’t be visible. The building is lifted up from the landscaping so it gets all the focus.
What materials did you use? The building is clad with raw, aluminium shingles, which reflect the sky in the same way water does. When you see
the building from the air it looks white because it reflects the sunlight. From ground level it’s the colour of the sky. In the evening, the sunset turns it yellow. Inside, the décor is very simple con-
crete and plaster in dark grey so it doesn’t compete with the aquariums – the focus is on the fish.
What have been the construction challenges? Because the building’s a morph shape, we couldn’t put any radius or diameters into it, so there’s no repetition in the shape. We tried many building styles before settling on a fairly traditional method of creating a few frames that have the outside shape, in the same way a wooden boat’s built. We then clad it with raw aluminium shingles.
What are you most proud of? I’m particularly proud of how flexible and unusual the shape is and how it takes up all the different challenges. We borrowed the whirlpool shape from nature and there’s a reason nature makes its shapes the way it does – nature is very flexible. A good building needs a good client.
The foundation that sponsored the aquarium has been really collaborative and professional. That’s why this project has been a success. l
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photo: AdAm mõrk
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