Manhattan Beach Roundhouse Aquarium

The Manhattan Beach Aquarium is located in a unique octagonal building at the end of a 1920’s era boardwalk. The protected structure originally served as a dance hall and measures only 2,200 square feet (200 square meters). The team managed to fit a range of up to date technology into the existing space, between rafters and inside walls, without altering the exterior of the building. The Aquarium has provided quality, free marine education to visitors for almost 40 years. The venue welcomes a wide range of visitors, from tourists to local schools and community groups. The site is valued by the local community, who contributed towards the upkeep costs through donations. An upgrade was much needed however, as the site was becoming dated. This was made possible by a generous $4 million donation from the Harrison Greenberg Foundation. The site now boasts all-new exhibits, new mechanical and life support systems, and new municipal utility systems. It houses 14 oceanic tanks, two freshwater tanks, and a touch tank featuring 75 species of marine life, including sharks, jellyfish, moray eels, and much more.

Location

Manhattan Beach, California

Client

Manhattan Beach Aquarium

Scope

Cloward H2O worked alongside Architecture firm CambridgeSeven Associates on the project. The company worked to fully engineer and redesign the entire interior of the aquarium.