Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes will open December 16, 2005. This complex and detailed building offers a welcoming grand entrance with enhanced visitor amenities, and includes an exhibit that immerses visitors in tropical northern Australia, and echos the sights and sounds of a river gorge in the Northern Territory.
Well before building began, staff designers referenced thousands of photographs and hours of video footage gathered during their November 2001 visit to the Northern Territory, where many river gorges provided inspiration for the exhibit. Australia is home to a variety of unique species adapted to survive the yearly cycle of floods and droughts. The Aquarium’s exhibit is an interpretation of a gorge habitat at the beginning of the rainy season – one of six seasons characteristic of this Australian region.
A bridge carries visitors past a waterfall from a recent “rain” and toward a revolving-door entrance. Once inside the immersive exhibit, visitors follow a pathway through an expansive gorge with soaring rock walls. The exhibit is home to an amazing array of animal species rarely seen outside Australia, such as freshwater crocodiles, rainbow lorikeets, flying foxes, pignose and snake-necked turtles and blue-tongued skinks. Visitors are immersed in the colors, textures, sights and sounds of this little-known region of Australia – opening eyes to a rare and astounding wilderness that has thrived for millions of years in the savage extremes of drought and deluge.
We’ve come a long way since breaking ground in 2002. Before construction workers could erect any walls, stairs or windows, they had to make sure that the aging pier, originally built in the 1800s, could withstand the pressures of holding up a piece of the world’s largest island. During an early, noisy and lengthy stage, the Inner Harbor echoed with the sound of 122 steel piles being driven into the bedrock to reinforce the area under the new addition.
Next, construction crews, master plumbers and electricians installed the underground infrastructure.
All of the structural concrete for the new addition was put into place, including the two walls behind the glassed exhibits and the stairs that lead to behind-the-scenes areas for the crocodiles and other creatures.
The large steel grid that frames the roof was raised, and a 15,000 plus square foot hand-knotted metal bird screen from China was installed to ensure that the rainbow lorikeets, northern rosellas and 30 other species of birds remain safely inside their new home, while keeping them within sight of curious visitors!
The 35-foot waterfall was built using an armature of reinforced steel beams on which to place the distinctive hand-carved rockwork.
Craftsmen and artists from Cemrock, one of the world’s leading builders of naturalistic environments, installed more than an acre of the stunning rock that makes up the waterfall and surrounding habitat. The rock was crafted from fine cement that was blasted into variant shapes, and then hand carved and painted by artists to recreate the ancient, water-worn river gorge habitat of Australia.
More than 33,000 square feet of glass fills in the tensile truss system, forming the enormous windows into the first major exhibit depicting an Australian river gorge in the U.S. The clear panes of the crystal pavilion allow the unique habitat and pounding waterfall to be seen and enjoyed from much of the Inner Harbor.
Our staff designers work closely with the Australian animal staff to design habitats that are suitable, safe and stimulating for the animals in the collection, and that mimic natural environs while also keeping the animals visible. Foot-thick acrylic panels were installed to give visitors face-to-face views of the animals, and thoughtful design elements – including basking lights and warming rocks – lure animals to visible spaces. Detailed micro-habitats, such as river log jams, have been created to make the fish and turtles feel at home. More than 100 live trees and shrubs planted in the exhibit add to the ambiance and provide the animals with perching and hiding spaces.
The Australian animal care staff slowly introduced animals to their new home in the weeks and months leading up to opening. The flying foxes, fruit-eating bats with wing spans of nearly three feet, were introduced first. Once they acclimated to the sights and sounds of their new habitat, staff introduced the freshies (freshwater crocodiles), birds, turtles, other reptiles and, of course, fish.
Australia has surfaced in Baltimore!
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