Zoo Basel is embedded in the city and used as a park by both residents and visitors. The redesign of the surrounding landscape and the construction of the new "Ozeanium" (ocean aquarium) on an adjacent site are bringing the zoo and the park area even closer to the city center, to form an attractive living and recreational environment. The proposed Ozeanium reflects the scale of many surrounding buildings, such as the Rialto swimming pool, the market hall, and the tall buildings on the city ring. The bold building massing makes clear what an attraction this Ozeanium will be, enriching the city in a central location. The footprint is an minimal as possible to leave room for future zoo expansion.
The roof and facade are homogenous in terms of the materials and the language of forms: exposed concrete, horizontally graduated by rough boarding and with sediment-like exogenous inclusions. The seemingly archaic façade is riddled with openings and recesses of various sizes, exposing the Ozeanium’s most important themes to the city beyond. Some of the spherical indentations in the building volume are planted and serve as habitats for birds and small animals.
In the Ozeanium’s dome-like entrance area, which is open on all sides, the enormous weight of the water mass above becomes apparent. All of the building’s most important functions can be seen directly from this vantage point. A ramp leads down to the foyer and elevators; passages and staircases lead to the bar, the temporary exhibition and the museum shop. Everything for which the building is used can be accessed directly from the entrance area on foot, by wheelchair, or with a baby buggy. This public area, while protected from the elements, is outdoors and is closed off at night by means of grating.
To begin their tour, visitors to the Ozeanium are carried up to the top floor by elevator, where they can dine in a restaurant with spectacular views of the city. From there they walk down a gently sloped, continuous ramp that takes them on a fictive journey around the oceans of the world. On this journey, four "aquarium clusters" – large, interconnected exhibition rooms – constitute scenographic highlights.
Project:
HHF + Burckhardt+Partner + Bluedisplays + Topotek 1 + Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure + Stokar+Partner + Tatin Design Studio + Philipp Schaerer
Program:
Aquarium
Location:
Basel, Switzerland
Design:
2012
Commission:
Open 2-stage competition 2012, 2nd Prize
Team HHF:
HERLACH HARTMANN FROMMENWILER
with Jelena Vucic, Aleris Rodgers, Sarah Gill, Walter Rudig and Tommaso Arnaboldi, Philippe Ayer, Ivana Barisic, Benjamin Krüger, André Manso, Terese Viltoft, Sabrina Wolf, Hanru Wu
Team Burckhardt+Partner:
Wolfgang Hardt, Sacha Marchal, Jeannine Roschi, Tobias Eglauer
Team Bluedisplays:
Xavier Aliart, Silvia Vicente Molina, Miguel Villalobos
Team Topotek 1:
Martin Rein-Cano, Francesca Venier, Celine Baumann
Team Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure:
Tivadar Puskas, Ayumi Isozaki, Giotto Messi
Team Tatin Design Studio:
Oliver Mayer, Gian Besset
Building Footprint Area:
315 m2
Surrounding Site Improvements Area:
3'105 m2
Gross Floor Area:
13'054 m2
Useable Floor Area:
8'950 m2
Building Volume:
52'634 m3
Client:
Zoo Basel
Pictures:
Renders by Philipp Schaerer
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