Blue Planet

Kastrup, Denmark

Photo © Adam Mørk

Visitor Centers

Architects: 3XN

Location: Jacob Fortlingsvej 1, 2770 Kastrup, Denmark
Year: 2013
Client: The Blue Planet Building Foundation (Realdania, Knud Højgaards Fond, Tårnby Kommune)
Function: Aquarium
Gross Floor Area: 9,700 m2
3XN Team: Kim Herforth Nielsen, Jan Ammundsen, Bo Boje Larsen, Stig Vesterager Gothelf, Eva Hviid-Nielsen, Majbritt Lerche Madsen, Rasmus
Engineering: Moe & Brødsgaard
Exhibition Design: Kvorning Kommunikation og Design
Landscape Architect: Henrik Jørgensen LANDSKAB
Aquarium Techniques: AAT
Prizes: The prize 'In-Situ Prisen 2013' awarded by the Danish concrete association, Dansk Beton

The whirlpool Inspired by the shape of nature whirlpool shapes: water streams, shoals of fish, flocks of birds in the sky Denmark’s new National Aquarium, The Blue Planet is shaped as a great whirlpool. This way the shape of the building itself tells the story of what awaits inside.
The Blue Planet is located on an elevated headland towards the sea, north of Kastrup Harbor. Located by the seaside the whirlpool shape connects sea and landscape. The building's distinctive shape is clearly visible for travellers arriving by plane at the nearby Copenhagen Airport. The facade is covered with small diamond-shaped aluminum plates, known as shingles, which adapts to the building's organic form. Just as water aluminium reflects the colours and light of the sky and thus the buildings expression varies with the changes in its natural surroundings.

Into another world Visitors reach the entrance by following the first and longest of the whirlpool’s whirls. With a smooth transition the landscape surpasses for the building, while the outdoor ponds mark the unique experience that awaits the aquarium visitors as they enter The Blue Planet: the whirlpool has pulled them into another world - a world beneath the surface of the sea.

Flexible movement between exhibitions The circular foyer is the central point of navigation in the aquarium. Here visitors choose which river, lake or ocean to explore. By enabling multiple routes the risk of queues in front of individual aquariums is reduced. Each exhibition has its own theme and entrance from the foyer, where sound and images are used to introduce the atmosphere of the different exhibition areas. The restaurant enjoys a magnificent view of the sea, which begins just a few meters away.