Freshwater Aquarium and River Museum
completed, Karlovac, 2016.
The Karlovac Freshwater Aquarium is located by the river Korana. The project goal was to form a new focal point of the city, to validate its promenade and create a new tourist attraction.
The center of the aquarium building defines a square area. The aquarium and the square are intercepted by three pedestrian routes dividing the building in three parts: exhibition space, reading room with a cafe bar and office spaces. All three parts can be entered from the square, with the facade of each one respectively oriented towards it. The back sides are oriented towards the edges of the plot and covered with earthen materials, acting as a part of the park, playgrounds and walkways.
The exhibition displays the flow of a karst river. It starts on the square with a water surface and continues inside the building with a system of ramps that wind down, underground, into the basement level. Passed the headwaters, sounds of the flowing river quiet down and visitors plunge into caves that feature endemic species. Further on, they arrive to an aquarium with larger specimens of rare species. Out of the cave, the river emerges from the underground back to the surface. As visitors walk into a tunnel that evokes immersion into the river, they can observe, from the sides and then from underneath, fish and aquatic plants living in warmer parts of the riverbed. After the tunnel a new series of aquariums with water lilies and rushes show marshy habitats. The exhibition ends with a system of cascading aquariums whose biotopes display waterfalls and the travertine barrier. Finally, a stairway and an elevator bring visitors passing through the gift shop, back to the entrance hall.
The space for analysis of the technological parameters of water, the scientific research center and the spaces for the acclimatization of the fish are located in the center of the layout.
PROJECT NAME Karlovac Aquarium and River Museum
PROJECT NO 224
PROGRAM public, sport
STATUS completed
PROJECT 2013-2015
CONSTRUCTION 2015-2016
LOCATION Croatia, Karlovac, Gornje Mekušje
SITE AREA 8327 m²
GROSS FLOOR AREA 2780 m²
FOOTPRINT 1927 m²
ALTITUDE 111.80 m
CLIENT City of Karlovac
AUTHOR 3LHD
PROJECT TEAM Saša Begović, Marko Dabrović, Tatjana Grozdanić Begović, Silvije Novak, Irena Mažer Hranuelli, Vibor Granić, Deša Ucović, Ivana Šajn, Nevena Kuzmanić, Romana Ilić
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING Palijan - Ivan Palijan , Siniša Lulić
PLUMBING, DRAINAGE AND AQUARIUM TECHNOLOGY Vodotehnika - Nenad Šutevski
PLUMBING AND DRAINAGE Vodotehnika - Tomislav Fujs
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING Projekting 1970 - Erol Čičić, Antonio Praničević
MECHANICAL INSTALLATIONS Ured Tri T - Zlatko Jakoplić
ELEVATORS Lift Modus - Rok Pietri
BUILDING PHYSICS AKFZ studio - Mateo Biluš
LANDSCAPE DESIGN Uređenje krajobraza - Luka Brnić, Ines Hrdalo
FIRE SAFETY Ing. Labos - Nadan Kosanović
HEALTH&SAFETY PROJECT Ing. Labos - Nadan Kosanović
AQUARIUM TECHNOLOGY PROJECT Tehnoekspert - Franjo Jović
FISH PROTECTION PROJECT Croatian Veterinary Institute - Dražen Oraić
AQUARIUM SETUP Faculty of Teacher Education Zagreb - Marko Ćaleta
Faculty of science - Zoran Marčić
AQUASCAPING Aquatic-Design - Petra Bašić
VISUALIZATIONS Boris Goreta
EXHIBITION LAYOUT DESIGN Bilić_Müller Studio - Dora Bilić, Tina Müller
SIGNAGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHICS DESIGN Bilić_Müller Studio - Dora Bilić, Tina Müller
ARTIFICIAL ROCK CONSULTANT Igor Lenard
LIGHTING CONSULTANT Petar Pintar
AUDIO-VIDEO INSTALLATIONS AVC - Miodrag Gladović
PHOTOGRAPHY Jure Živković, Miljenko Bernfest