Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s
Auckland
The Sea Cave Adventure
Located in the heart of Auckland, Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s Aquarium is the home to thousands of marine animals including penguins, sharks, turtles, stingrays, octopuses, fish & more!
In 2022, the new interactive world-class Sea Cave Adventure zone was opened. The $1.6 million project was designed to inspire guests to appreciate and explore the magnificent wildlife of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park, New Zealand’s first and largest marine park. The Sea Cave Adventure allows guests to encounter a range of incredible sea creatures including octopus, eels, sea stars, crayfish, and other native marine species. Plus there is a touch rockpool and interactive displays and games for visitors to enjoy.
Merlin Entertainments asked BSK Projects to manage this project. The new zone was to be built while the existing part of the attraction remained open to the public so works had to be managed carefully.
The project started before the COVID-19 pandemic began, and continued through the pandemic in an unprecedented time when BSK Projects had to remain flexible to accommodate new state regulations that were quickly put in place.
Aside from the setbacks created by the COVID pandemic, one of the biggest challenges in this project was managing the environment that the Sea Cave Adventure zone was built in. The entire attraction sits below ground so access restrictions had to be carefully thought through. Plus the live environment had to be carefully handled so it was not damaged in the process.
BSK Projects past experience with aquarium projects added value to this great initiative helping the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park to protect the Gulf’s natural and historic features and create a portal for visitors to discover the Gulf’s marine life, the threats to its future and how they can help protect it.
Client: Merlin Entertainments
Services: Design and Project Management
Current status: Completed 2022