Awards

2000 Canadian Architect Award for Excellence

Oltremare is a marine theme park in Northern Italy dedicated to the Adriatic Sea, all of its forms of life, and its cultural history. Oltremare is intended to be a tourist entertainment attraction, but it is also committed to the research, conservation and reproduction of endangered species, drawing on the scientific expertise of the Delphinarium di Riccione, and the technical and scientific support of the Fondazione Cetacea.

A number of locations were assessed for this project; the selected site provided an opportunity to recreate the habitat of the Po wetlands as one of the major exterior exhibits.

The ten hectare park is designed as a flexible, multifunctional space, and is being developed in two phases. The main feature is the dolphinarium, which will be completed in Phase One along with the entrance pavilion, administration facilities, the museum of life and exterior Po habitats. Phase Two will include an aquarium, ethnological museum, research and education buildings, tourist amenities, and detailed scientific exhibits.

Exhibits will present plant and animal life from different significant habitats and evolutionary periods of the Adriatic. Visitors will have a spectacular experience, actually taking a "voyage" and travelling through time from the beginning of life on our planet, through the evolution of marine mammals, and up to a dramatic present-day dolphin exhibit. Habitats will go beyond passive presentations of information, and will engage a number of senses including touch, sight and hearing.

Environmental sustainability and energy conservation are fundamental to the design of the project, and include a passive cooling system with natural ventilation and recovery of heat, and no air conditioning, minimizing energy consumption. The building is essentially underground, covered by a thermal blanket of soil. Emerging from this underground building are large atrium spaces with extensive glazing, flooding the interior with natural light.