Outside of whale watching, we tend to keep our encounters with sea creatures to museums. You can chalk that up to cold water and the relentless fear of what's lurking beneath. Needless to say, we were excited to hear that Southern California's best opportunity for coming face-to-face with marine life (without setting foot in the water) is expanding.
The Aquarium of the Pacific will be adding onto its Long Beach campus with the new Pacific Visions wing. The 29,000-square-foot, two-story structure will house an immersive curved theater as well as new exhibition and animal habitat spaces.
The centerpiece of the two-story, 300-seat Honda Pacific Visions Theater will be its 130-foot-wide by 32-foot-tall curved screen. That'll sit behind a 30-foot retractable projection disc on the floor. Coupled with multi-sensory seats (think theme park 4-D theaters), the overall effect promises to deliver a compelling way to watch a rotating selection of produced pieces and marine life live streams.
The whale-like building comes from the San Francisco-based firm EHDD, who also worked on the aquarium's original design. It's the focal point of a $53 million expansion that also includes a redesigned entrance plaza, a double-the-size changing exhibition space and a dedicated art gallery.
Expect all of the additions to open in late 2018. In the meantime, check out some more photos of the plans below.
Photographs: Courtesy EHDD and Aquarium of the Pacific
