Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium used closures during
the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink its building and
update its message. As it reopens following a major
renovation, we take a look at the new offer
The design is by EskewDumezRipple and Cambridge Seven / Photo: EskewDumezRipple:CambridgeSeven
New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium has opened its expanded building, following a major $41m renovation that has seen the relocation and redesign of the insectarium, and an expansion and renovation of the aquarium itself.
Designed by architects EskewDumezRipple (EDR), in collaboration with architects and exhibit designers CambridgeSeven, the project saw the insectarium moved from its previous home on Canal Street to join the aquarium in the heart of New Orleans’ downtown. Visitors to the new insectarium now end their visit in a spectacular new butterfly garden featuring hundreds of free flying butterflies, lush flowers and a panoramic view of the Mississippi River.
“We’re teaching young people to love the environment,” Ron Forman, president and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute told New Orleans news channel NOLA.com.
“Bugs and fish and reptiles and mammals are all an important part of the Earth that we need to protect for the next generation.”
REFLECTING THE MISSION Visitors to the aquarium now enter via a glass atrium with plant-covered walls fed by a hidden hydroponics system, leading onto a new lobby that tells the story of Audubon’s conservation work around the world. The aquarium’s exhibits have all been redesigned and updated, with new additions including Amazon Encounter, a walk-through exhibit that features a two-toed sloth, wading birds, an armadillo and a giant tortoise. The Mississippi River Gallery has been transformed into a bayou-themed gallery, and a new experience has been introduced offering visitors wider access to the aquarium’s 450,000 gallon Gulf of Mexico tank.
Two new gift shops have been added and the exhibit flow through the aquarium spaces has been reversed. Beyond the renewed exhibit spaces, a creative infill and reimagining of the former large-screen, immersive theatre allows for additional programming space to support Audubon in its mission. The second-floor has been transformed to house an open expanse portion of the insectarium, and the first floor hosts a new multi-purpose event.
“This project reflects Audubon’s mandate to reach for the stars and reflect the over-arching message and mission of conservation,” said Peter Sollogub, CambridgeSeven design principal on the project.
“Its vision and completion represent commitment and collaboration at its finest, using creativity, storytelling and exploration to transmit nature’s wonder and wow its community.”
“This project provides a new window into the exceptional work of Audubon, its environmental stewardship mission, and is also a key component of the ongoing revitalisation of the New Orleans riverfront,” said Haley Robinson, project architect from EskewDumezRipple.
Photo: EskewDumezRipple
“This project provides a new window into the exceptional work of Audubon, its environmental stewardship mission, and is also a key component of the ongoing revitalisation of the New Orleans riverfront,” – Haley Robinson
Photo: Audubon Nature Institute
“We’re teaching young people to love the environment. Bugs and fish and reptiles and mammals are all an important part of the Earth that we need to protect for the next generation” – Ron Forman
Photo: CambridgeSeven
“This project reflects Audubon’s mandate to reach for the stars and reflect the over-arching message and mission of conservation” – Peter Sollugub
Design Team
Architect: EskewDumezRipple
Exhibit designer: CambridgeSeven
Landscape: Spackman Mossop Michaels
Structural/civil engineering: Morphy Makofsky, Inc.
MEP Engineering: Moses Engineers
Media design: Cortina Productions
Lighting design: Eos Lightmedia
Graphic design: Natalie Zanecchia Design
LSS Design: Andy Aiken
Exhibit fabricator: 1220 Exhibits
Mural artist: Patrick Maxcy
Construction Team
Construction consultant: Dupont-LeCorgne
Contractor: Broadmoor LLC
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Learning to listen
Young people were involved in every stage of planning for the new Young V&A. Is this the start of a real shift in the way children’s museums are planned?
People: Karin Hindsbo
The head of Scandinavia’s largest museum is set to take over as Tate Modern’s new director. She shares her plans
People: Sean Decatur
It’s a big year for the American Museum of Natural History, as its new president takes over and it launches a major new centre
People: Håkon Lund
As Norway’s largest theme park embraces solar energy, Lund Gruppen’s owner tells us why the industry needs to be at the forefront of change
Interview: Andreas Andersen
As Gothenburg’s Liseberg theme park celebrates its 100th anniversary, its CEO talks celebrations, challenges and COVID-19 with Magali Robathan
Museums: And still we rise
Charleston’s long-awaited International African American Museum opens, reclaiming one of the US’s most painful and sacred spaces. IAAM president Dr Tonya Matthews speaks to Attractions Management about the long road to opening
Aquaria: A fresh start
The team behind New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium used the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink their offer.
We check out the result, which brings both institutions under the same roof for the first time
Museums: Power of youth
Investing in creative confidence in our young has never been as important as it is now, argues Young V&A director Helen Charman
Science centres: Axel Hüttinger
From the creation of a new science centre in Angola to an indoor/outdoor children’s gallery in Barcelona, Huttinger Interactive Exhibitions is keeping busy
Research: Mixed blessings
Attractions have been helping revitalise shopping centres for many years, but how is this market changing?
Awards: Good lookers
Some of the world’s most beautiful and innovative new museums have been celebrated by Architizer’s A+ Awards. We take a look at the winners
Sponsored: Red Raion
Red Raion has emerged as an industry leader in the realm of digital
attractions, captivating audiences worldwide with its CGI movie
experiences.
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium used closures during
the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink its building and
update its message. As it reopens following a major
renovation, we take a look at the new offer
The design is by EskewDumezRipple and Cambridge Seven / Photo: EskewDumezRipple:CambridgeSeven
New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium has opened its expanded building, following a major $41m renovation that has seen the relocation and redesign of the insectarium, and an expansion and renovation of the aquarium itself.
Designed by architects EskewDumezRipple (EDR), in collaboration with architects and exhibit designers CambridgeSeven, the project saw the insectarium moved from its previous home on Canal Street to join the aquarium in the heart of New Orleans’ downtown. Visitors to the new insectarium now end their visit in a spectacular new butterfly garden featuring hundreds of free flying butterflies, lush flowers and a panoramic view of the Mississippi River.
“We’re teaching young people to love the environment,” Ron Forman, president and CEO of the Audubon Nature Institute told New Orleans news channel NOLA.com.
“Bugs and fish and reptiles and mammals are all an important part of the Earth that we need to protect for the next generation.”
REFLECTING THE MISSION Visitors to the aquarium now enter via a glass atrium with plant-covered walls fed by a hidden hydroponics system, leading onto a new lobby that tells the story of Audubon’s conservation work around the world. The aquarium’s exhibits have all been redesigned and updated, with new additions including Amazon Encounter, a walk-through exhibit that features a two-toed sloth, wading birds, an armadillo and a giant tortoise. The Mississippi River Gallery has been transformed into a bayou-themed gallery, and a new experience has been introduced offering visitors wider access to the aquarium’s 450,000 gallon Gulf of Mexico tank.
Two new gift shops have been added and the exhibit flow through the aquarium spaces has been reversed. Beyond the renewed exhibit spaces, a creative infill and reimagining of the former large-screen, immersive theatre allows for additional programming space to support Audubon in its mission. The second-floor has been transformed to house an open expanse portion of the insectarium, and the first floor hosts a new multi-purpose event.
“This project reflects Audubon’s mandate to reach for the stars and reflect the over-arching message and mission of conservation,” said Peter Sollogub, CambridgeSeven design principal on the project.
“Its vision and completion represent commitment and collaboration at its finest, using creativity, storytelling and exploration to transmit nature’s wonder and wow its community.”
“This project provides a new window into the exceptional work of Audubon, its environmental stewardship mission, and is also a key component of the ongoing revitalisation of the New Orleans riverfront,” said Haley Robinson, project architect from EskewDumezRipple.
Photo: EskewDumezRipple
“This project provides a new window into the exceptional work of Audubon, its environmental stewardship mission, and is also a key component of the ongoing revitalisation of the New Orleans riverfront,” – Haley Robinson
Photo: Audubon Nature Institute
“We’re teaching young people to love the environment. Bugs and fish and reptiles and mammals are all an important part of the Earth that we need to protect for the next generation” – Ron Forman
Photo: CambridgeSeven
“This project reflects Audubon’s mandate to reach for the stars and reflect the over-arching message and mission of conservation” – Peter Sollugub
Design Team
Architect: EskewDumezRipple
Exhibit designer: CambridgeSeven
Landscape: Spackman Mossop Michaels
Structural/civil engineering: Morphy Makofsky, Inc.
MEP Engineering: Moses Engineers
Media design: Cortina Productions
Lighting design: Eos Lightmedia
Graphic design: Natalie Zanecchia Design
LSS Design: Andy Aiken
Exhibit fabricator: 1220 Exhibits
Mural artist: Patrick Maxcy
Construction Team
Construction consultant: Dupont-LeCorgne
Contractor: Broadmoor LLC
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 3
Editor's letter: Learning to listen
Young people were involved in every stage of planning for the new Young V&A. Is this the start of a real shift in the way children’s museums are planned?
People: Karin Hindsbo
The head of Scandinavia’s largest museum is set to take over as Tate Modern’s new director. She shares her plans
People: Sean Decatur
It’s a big year for the American Museum of Natural History, as its new president takes over and it launches a major new centre
People: Håkon Lund
As Norway’s largest theme park embraces solar energy, Lund Gruppen’s owner tells us why the industry needs to be at the forefront of change
Interview: Andreas Andersen
As Gothenburg’s Liseberg theme park celebrates its 100th anniversary, its CEO talks celebrations, challenges and COVID-19 with Magali Robathan
Museums: And still we rise
Charleston’s long-awaited International African American Museum opens, reclaiming one of the US’s most painful and sacred spaces. IAAM president Dr Tonya Matthews speaks to Attractions Management about the long road to opening
Aquaria: A fresh start
The team behind New Orleans’ Audubon Aquarium and Insectarium used the COVID-19 pandemic to rethink their offer.
We check out the result, which brings both institutions under the same roof for the first time
Museums: Power of youth
Investing in creative confidence in our young has never been as important as it is now, argues Young V&A director Helen Charman
Science centres: Axel Hüttinger
From the creation of a new science centre in Angola to an indoor/outdoor children’s gallery in Barcelona, Huttinger Interactive Exhibitions is keeping busy
Research: Mixed blessings
Attractions have been helping revitalise shopping centres for many years, but how is this market changing?
Awards: Good lookers
Some of the world’s most beautiful and innovative new museums have been celebrated by Architizer’s A+ Awards. We take a look at the winners
Sponsored: Red Raion
Red Raion has emerged as an industry leader in the realm of digital
attractions, captivating audiences worldwide with its CGI movie
experiences.
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
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