AquaDom - the world's largest cylinder aquarium is located in the heart of Berlin, the AquaDom forms a striking centrepiece for a new multi-purpose development, which includes the designer DomAquaree Hotel, retail, recreational, work and living spaces.
Water is the architectural theme of the complex and AquaDom, at an impressive 16m deep and 11m in diameter, is the highlight of this experience. Lucite International provided the high performance materials used by Reynolds Polymer Technology (RPT) to manufacture the 150 tons of acrylic panels, which were needed to complete the aquarium.
The aquarium has 26 acrylic panels bonded together seamlessly for the outer cylinder and 15 panels for the inner cylinder. RPT designed and created these monolithic viewing panels using Lucite Specialty Monomers and Resins to ensure consistent and optimum optical clarity for anyone viewing the fish held in the AquaDom. And visitors have the unique experience of ascending through a column of water as they ride a split-level glass lift as they move through the centre of the aquarium.
Holding 264,000 gallons of saltwater, it is stocked with 100 different species and a total of 2,500 fish, including Golden Puffer, Porcupine Fish, Moray Eels, Angel Fish and Butterfly Fish. The variety of fish has been specifically chosen due to the different depths at which each will swim within the aquarium, which is raised 8m above the ground for visitors to admire.
The water inside the aquarium circulates completely once an hour. Commercially certified divers are used for the cleaning operation and as they ascend from the bottom must decompress at 'safety stop intervals' due to the sheer depth of water.
Ian Lambert, CEO of Lucite International, is looking forward to visiting the new hotel; "The AquaDom has been made possible by a very unique partnership. It is the strength, transparency and optical clarity of our high performing materials combined with the advanced acrylic technology from RPT that has made it all possible. This was a very ambitious project, which many people said could never be done. Thanks to our customer's designers and their technical ability and the outstanding performance characteristics of our materials, we have been able to bring the wonders of the deep to everyone who visits the AquaDom. It is the largest cylinder aquarium ever built in the world and I am sure that its sheer size and the wonderful deep water fish contained within will draw visitors to this new leisure destination in Berlin."
The project was successfully completed on time due to the close working collaboration between Lucite and RPT that has existed for nearly a decade. Lucite provided the acrylic expertise and quality control in terms of consistency of materials, whilst RPT designed, built and project managed the installation.
Roger Reynolds, CEO of Reynolds Polymer Technology, commented on this latest success in the long-standing partnership with Lucite International: "The combined expertise between our two organisations has been extremely successful in the marketplace for aquaria. With more than 50% of the world's largest aquaria to our name, it is a tribute to our hard work and close collaboration. We hope that accomplishment of the AquaDom is just the beginning of a whole new area of opportunity for us and certainly prepares us well for the next challenge."
The multi-purpose development is by Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG, the second largest investment company for open-ended property investment in Germany. International Concept Management, based in Colorado, US partnered RPT from the outset for the design, build and installation of Aquadom. The original concept design was provided by nps tchoban voss architects in Berlin.
