Boltshauser Architekten Wins Competition To Design Basel Aquarium

Swiss architecture practice, Boltshauser Architekten, recently won an international competition to design a new aquarium in the center of Basel, Switzerland. Their concept, titled ‘Seacliff’, was noted by jury members as being the best match for the public image cultivated by the Basel Zoo. The above-ground building space proposed by Boltshauser was smaller than any of the other competition entries, offering the best solution from an urban development perspective. Beating out such prominent firms as Zaha Hadid Architects, David Chipperfield Architects, and Caruso St John Architects, Boltshauser’s winning project is due for completion in 2019 with an estimated cost of £54 million. More images and information after the break.

“All in all, the entries submitted were at an extremely high level and represented a wide range of interesting proposed solutions for the task and location at hand,” said jury member and Basel canton master builder Fritz Schumacher.

The anonymous competition was organized by Basel Zoo. 55 teams of architects, aquarium designers and general planners submitted their applications. 15 teams were then chosen to prepare a project proposal for the Ozeanium.

Courtesy of bdonline.co.uk