Nearly eight years after structural design began, Seattle Aquarium’s Ocean Pavilion has opened its doors to the public! This 50,000-square-foot addition includes three new immersive habitats and increases the Aquarium’s capacity by almost 50%.
MKA’s unique aquarium design—a geometrically complex, cantilevered concrete habitat serving as the building’s primary gravity- and lateral-force-resisting systems—incorporates 3D printing and Computerized Numerical Control for custom-cut formwork. The habitat’s unusual geometry and sloshing water effects greatly impacted the seismic design and detailing complexities.
MKA engineers Peter Kornyoh and Hannah Bonnoto on-site and a view of the complex rebar used to create the main habitat. Photos: MKA
The Ocean Pavilion is targeting Living Building certification in critical performance areas, focusing on planet-positive energy use.
“From a structural engineering perspective, it’s no surprise the new Ocean Pavilion’s main habitat, The Reef, gets most of the attention,” said Hannah Bonotto, Ocean Pavilion Construction Project Manager. “But I hope visitors also appreciate the exposed structural steel throughout the building. From the 80-foot-long kinked roof beams to the skewed back-of-house steel, no two beams on this project are alike—it’s an extraordinary project.”
The project’s civil design included extensive coordination with adjacent and concurrent projects—the relocated Alaskan Way and Elliott Way, as well as the Overlook Walk project. MKA arranged the relocation of utilities to align with the development of these projects and new utility services to the Ocean Pavilion. MKA also provided grading and hardscape improvements in the adjacent Promenade and the Alaskan Way sidewalks to meet accessibility requirements for implementation by the Alaskan Way relocation project and worked with the City of Seattle to permit the project through the Street Improvement Process.
“Contributing to an iconic anchor of the revitalized Seattle Waterfront is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” echoed Civil Project Manager Rita Greene. “Looking out (our) office window and seeing the Ocean Pavilion is a reminder of all the collective hard work and brain power everyone involved put into the project.”
The Ocean Pavilion also includes an accessible rooftop garden that functions as an extension of another MKA project, the Overlook Walk.
“The geometrically unique 350,000-gallon aquarium habitat with a 32-foot cantilevered section—complete with oculus—hovering over the main entrance was one of the most challenging concrete structures ever designed and executed by MKA engineers and modelers,” said MKA retired Senior Principal Jay Taylor. “That said, the structure’s most significant accomplishment may not be its gravity-defying design, but the building’s seamless integration with an unobstructed, transformative connection between the Pike Place Market and the reimagined Seattle waterfront.”
Other nearby MKA-led projects include Benaroya Hall, the renovation and expansion of the Seattle Art Museum, the Harbor Steps, Pike Place Market’s MarketFront Entrance and Garage, the Olympic Sculpture Park, and the Elliot Bay Central Seawall, another critical component of Seattle’s waterfront renaissance.
“The Ocean Pavilion is an accessible, immersive educational experience for all,” Bonotto concluded. “I’m so proud of what the project team achieved for the people of Seattle, and I can’t wait to show my friends and family this beautiful new addition to the downtown waterfront.”
