SHARJAH AQUARIUM

Sharjah Aquarium is an impressive aquarium on Sharjah’s waterfront, adjacent to Sharjah Maritime Museum. It contains tanks that are home to ocean, Gulf, coral and shallow water fish and other underwater creatures.

Visitors spiral around the Aquarium, looking down into the depths, walking out on a pier above fish, seeing the fish as if looking out of a deep sea cave and walking through a tunnel while creatures swim above them.

D J Willrich Ltd installed 20 touch screens which visitors use to identify and learn about the sea creatures they see. Large screen videos and projectors give information on fishing and fish as well as adding to the fish that visitors can see.

The entrance hall teems with models of sea creatures, all dramatically lit at night, giving the Aquarium a dramatic entrance. Further in, DJW installed thematic lighting – adding ‘coral’ and water effects and more to sea ‘caves’ and corridors.

The tanks themselves are strongly lit, not only to allow visitors to see into the depths, but to give the sea creatures the correct lighting levels they need. The lighting gives the creatures a daylight cycle and the right light frequencies to stay healthy. Sharjah Aquarium is also home to live coral which is growing, thanks in part to the carefully chosen lighting. DJW designed, installed and focussed all of the lighting, much of it suspended over the tanks!