The Shedd Aquarium has unveiled its strategic vision for the next 100 years. The vision, dubbed the Centennial Commitment due to the organization’s 100th anniversary in 2030, is aimed at ensuring a more equitable, sustainable, and thriving future for people and aquatic life.
The Centennial Commitment centers around three primary pillars - For People, For Communities, and For Aquatic Life. These pillars include:
- Deeper community investments and partnerships
- A modernized aquarium experience through the transformation and restoration of the historic galleries and dynamic new exhibits that provide greater and more accessible entry points
- New educational and experiential programs
- Digital engagements that bring animals and conservation action programs from the aquarium into more hands and homes
- Advancements in animal care and welfare
- Accelerated aquatic research and science
Half of the $500 million budget will power the programs and partnerships needed to achieve the Centennial Commitment’s aspirations while the other half will focus on the needed physical improvements to the historic Beaux-Arts-style building that will modernize the aquarium galleries and experience, enable greater accessibility, enhance animal habitats, and restore architectural features such as the opening of original windows that provide views of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan and unobstructed public access to the building’s original exterior promenade and garden spaces.
The multi-year, four phase construction project will begin in late 2022. Project highlights include:
- A modernized experience that will feature more accessible, interactive, highly immersive, and science-rich galleries
- A new learning commons located at the historic core of the aquarium on the main level that will serve as a launchpad and increase the amount of existing classroom space
- A centralized science hub that will merge five existing scientific laboratories into one central hub spanning microbial ecology, conservation science, water quality and chemistry, genome studies, and pathology
- New circulation pathways that will significantly reduce the number of transitions between areas of the aquarium, allowing guests to have multiple options regarding where they can start their journey and making navigation easier.
- Four acres of activated outdoor green space around the building that will increase natural connections to nature and bolster resilience on the lakefront while also adding experiential blue and environmental improvements.
The modernization of the historic galleries will serve as the largest capital project for the organization in recent history, preceded by the expansion of the Abbott Oceanarium in 1991 (and its reimagination in 2008), Amazon Rising exhibit in 2001, and Wild Reef exhibit in 2003.
The build team will include Pepper/BMI Construction (general contractor partners), Valerio Dewalt Train (architect), Thinc Design (exhibit design partner), JLL (project manager), Institute for Human Centered Design (accessibility partner), and Trinal (equity and inclusion partner).
Construction is slated to conclude in 2026 with new galleries, programs, and experiences opening each year on a rolling basis.
Related Stories
Museums | May 28, 2015
SANAA wins bid to design new building for Art Gallery of New South Wales
The museum's developers hope the new gallery will enrich Sydney’s eastern cultural precinct.
Museums | May 18, 2015
Diller Scofidio + Renfro unveils preliminary design for U.S. Olympic Museum
According to the firm’s founding partner, Elizabeth Diller, the design was inspired by the movement of athletes, as it “spirals up and outwards from a central atrium.”
Museums | May 13, 2015
The museum of tomorrow: 8 things to know about cultural institutions in today’s society
Entertainment-based experiences, personal journeys, and community engagement are among the key themes that cultural institutions must embrace to stay relevant, write Gensler's Diana Lee and Richard Jacob.
Museums | Apr 27, 2015
Finalists’ designs for Guggenheim Helsinki competition released
A custom-developed App engages an international public in the selection process.
Museums | Apr 23, 2015
Moshe Safdie unveils pentagonal scheme for National Medal of Honor Museum
The new museum near Charleston, S.C., will archive the history of the nation's highest military honorees.
Museums | Apr 22, 2015
Check out Ralph Johnson's stunning nature-inspired Shanghai museum
The newly opened Shanghai Natural History Museum, designed by Perkins+Will’s Global Design Director Ralph Johnson, mimics the shape of a nautilus shell, and features natural elements throughout.
Museums | Apr 16, 2015
SANAA and Snøhetta tie at first place for Budapest museum bid
The two firms submitted designs for the New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum, one of five planned museums to be constructed in a park just outside the urban center of Hungary’s capital.
Sponsored | Fire-Rated Products | Apr 14, 2015
Fire resistive curtain wall brings maximum light, views and safety to Aspen Art Museum
The curtain wall used for the Shigeru Ban-designed museum provides maximum daylight while protecting the art from fire
Museums | Apr 10, 2015
Henning Larsen Architects designs timber museum extension in Sweden
The new extension will complement Österund’s wooded surroundings
Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015
14 projects that push AEC teaming to the limits
From Lean construction to tri-party IPD to advanced BIM/VDC coordination, these 14 Building Teams demonstrate the power of collaboration in delivering award-winning buildings. These are the 2015 Building Team Award winners.
