It has been widely known for several decades that shotcrete is an ideal material for constructing naturalistic habitats for animals. When fresh concrete is freed from the constraining requirements of a rigid form, it can be shaped and carved in much the same way a sculptor handles clay or a piece of marble, but on a dimensional scale that is only limited by money or imagination. Shotcrete is also an incredibly versatile building material, which means it can serve many purposes on a project that ambitiously demands the blending of architecture, engineering, and aesthetic innovation.
America™s National Aquarium is located in Baltimore, MD. The designers for the recent Pier 3 Expansion project aspired to replicate the water-shed forest of rural Maryland and, in contrast, the