Blue Planet Aquarium Reopens to Become Northern Europe’s Largest and Features R-Cast® Acrylic by Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc.
The Blue Planet Aquarium located in Copenhagen, Denmark is being recognized as Northern Europe’s largest and most spectacularly designed aquarium. The R-Cast® acrylic viewing window and tunnel from Reynolds Polymer Technology, Inc. gives visitors panoramic views into the Ocean exhibit.
Copenhagen, Denmark. June 26, 2013 –The Blue Planet Aquarium has reopened with much fanfare and an imaginative new facility. A birds-eye view of the reinvented Blue Planet reveals a spiraled structure that is full of motion and synergy. The unique design of the building is meant to resemble the natural, circular motion of wind and water. The aquarium now holds a grand total of over 1.8 million gallons of water, 53 different aquarium displays, and some 20,000 ocean animals.
To create the largest aquarium exhibit, known as The Ocean, custom R-Cast® acrylic was needed to hold the 1.05 million gallons of water – that is 4,373 tons of liquid. The viewing window itself is 18 inches thick, 52 feet long, and 26 feet tall, which allows for spectacular views of a variety of sea life including rays, sea turtles, and barracudas. This exhibit also holds the aquarium’s largest animal, the hammerhead shark, with specimens up to 23 feet in length.
R-Cast® acrylic was also used in the construction of a transparent sea tunnel that takes visitors through the depths of The Ocean exhibit. The tunnel is seven feet high and 10 feet wide, giving visitors an intimate viewing experience while being surrounded by the array of exotic sea life. The clarity of R-Cast® gives the illusion the acrylic is perhaps ghostly-thin, while in reality it is an ample five inches in thickness.
The revamped Blue Planet Aquarium was designed without a set tour route with the idea that visitors would receive a more individual experience by circling their way from site to site. The fans, or wings of the aquarium, are divided up by different water regions and extend from the center forming the shape of a giant whirlpool. Each individual exhibit has a unique theme and entrance featuring tailored sound and image displays to establish the desired atmosphere.
“One truly remarkable feature of this aquarium was the effort to include exhibits that represent different areas of our wonderful planet,” said Matt Houlihan, Executive Vice President. “R-Cast® was the perfect fit for the largest displays where it was paramount to balance the desired thickness of the acrylic with the safety factors needed for such a public place. No one else can do this monolithically like we can. This is the type of project for which we are best known.”
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