Municipal Aquarium ( Description, zones)

This is situated next to the entrance and consists of:
Entrance Hall: its aim is to accustom the visitor to the low light level as one passes through the aquarium and to isolate the latter from the exterior conditions.
Access and Control: At the right of the entrance hall is an information desk, a shop, ticket control etc... Adjacent to this area is the management office.
Audiovisual Room: On the left side of the entrance hall there is a multi-purpose room where visitors can complement their visit with audio-visual information: this room is open to the exhibition area and with a direct view of several of the aquarium tanks. An objective of the new Municpal Aquarium is to influence the study of and education about indigenous species, encouraging a knowledge of the marine environment, especially for children.

This has the main attraction for the visitor: In the centre there is a large aquarium of almost square form in plan: the public can move freely round this whilst, round their outside is an uninterrupted ring of aquaria. By this arrangement one is tring to make the visitor feel "immersed" in an aquatic world, encircled by the continuous bright band of the surrounding aquaria. The area allows for an organized itinerary during a visit, if necessary, but also allows for one to stop and go back to take another look at or study that which one considers most interesting. In total there are 9 aquaria of various sizes, the central one being 5 x 4.5m and the largest having a length of 13.5m and a breadth of 3m. Next to this zone there are toilets for the general public and also for disabled persons. All the fittings: the PVC floor, the ceiling grills and the wall panels are of a deep blue colour. The only visual references are the continuous face of the intensly illuminated aquaria, the 250 small brilliant lights in the ceiling and the effects produced by projectors in the floor. Above all the visitor can enjoy in this zone easy access and the freedom to choose his own route. To comply with the limits for the air conditioning it is necessary to restrict the number of visitors in the main room to a maximum of 50.

This zone houses the technical maintenance section. Quarantine room and Laboratory Already-existing machine room for the fountain in the square. Purification tanks. Machine room. The above, as well as the rear of the aquaria where the drainage equipment in located, are connected by a continuous U-shaped passage which gives access at the extreme ends and in the centre which facilitates the maintenance work.

Plaza de Fernandez Ordoñez - Tlf. 96 541 69 16 - 03130 - Santa Pola (Alicante )