Crafting the World's Tallest Cylindrical Aquarium
Moscow’s Avia Park Mall become in 2016 home to a remarkable feat of architectural ingenuity—the world’s tallest cylindrical aquarium, a masterpiece designed and built by International Concept Management (ICM). Rising to an impressive 24 meters (including crown) in height and spanning 7 meters in width, this acrylic marvel stands as the focal point of the mall, immersing visitors in a captivating underwater environment.
ICM’s involvement began with an intricate design process, aiming to seamlessly blend architectural brilliance with functional immersion.
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Elevating the Retail Experience through Seamless Integration of Aquarium and Shopping at Avia Park Mall
Inaugurating a new era in shopping experiences, the Avia Park Mall Aquarium, designed and built by ICM, takes center stage in Moscow’s state-of-the-art shopping center. ICM’s vision was not merely to create an aquarium but to craft an engaging experience that would serve as the mall’s centerpiece, seamlessly integrating architectural beauty with an immersive underwater environment.
Standing at 24 meters tall and 7 meters wide, the aquarium is a testament to ICM’s expertise in complex engineering and sophisticated designs. To enhance the visitor experience, ICM’s design team introduced additional viewing port holes at the aquarium’s bottom and a walk-through tunnel for visitors exiting the panoramic elevator on the mall’s top floor.
ICM’s role extended beyond design to the comprehensive management of the aquarium’s installation. Fifty-six acrylic pieces were shipped to Moscow, where they were bonded together in temperature-sensitive technical rooms. The complexity of this process, executed in the midst of Moscow’s winter, required the use of the largest crane in Russia to lift the assembled pieces into their final location within the shopping mall. The entire journey, from initial design to completion, spanned approximately fifteen months.
Andrius Vengalis, ICM’s on-site Project Manager, remarked, “Many aspects of this project were quite technical and challenging, but we had considerable experience to rely on. Our team executed this project perfectly, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of the Avia Park Mall Aquarium.”
The Technical Marvels: Enhancing Visitor Interaction and Marine Realism.
The Avia Park Mall Aquarium is not merely a spectacle but a technical marvel, featuring over 3,200 artificial corals to create a realistic habitat for its aquatic inhabitants. The aquarium’s centerpiece—one of the world’s tallest hydraulic elevator—offers guests an up-close encounter with 50 different species of sharks, rays, and fish.
This breathtaking experience is accessible to the public during normal mall hours, redefining the intersection of retail and marine exploration.
