TVS Design completed a 146,00-square-foot facility in Sarasota, Florida, for the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium late last year. The new flagship aquatic facility called the Mote Science Education Aquarium (Mote SEA) combines immersive experiences with opportunities to learn about marine life.

Situated next to the lake surrounding Nathan Benderson Park, this new building succeeds the Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium’s previous flagship building 15 miles away on an island in the Sarasota Bay. This new location is said to provide more visibility and accessibility to guests. 

For its design, Atlanta-based architecture and interior design firm TVS Design, took inspiration from marine life and our interactions with it. Looking at the south face of the building, the 3-story, the largest of the complex, rises from its waterfront site as if it is the hull of a docked boat. The shorter, more squat structures flanking either side  trail from the center facility  as the “boat’s” bow and stern. Furthermore, the building’s cylindrical shape was informed by swarming schools of fish and its facade uses a white metal panels that take cues from faceted fish scales.

“Creating a project as visible and important as Mote SEA meant balancing storytelling with pragmatism,” Jonathan Henry, associate principal at TVS, said in a statement. “From the building’s expressive form to its resilient façade system, every design decision was made to communicate Mote’s mission while ensuring the building can serve guests from all over the world for generations to come.”

Upon entry, guests take an escalator to its top floor and descend through the ensuing three stories of open-air habitats exhibiting Florida’s native ecology, a 400,000-gallon “Gulf of Mexico” aquarium habitat, and windows into research laboratories where staff conduct work. 

In the exhibition spaces walls and display elements were conceived with sinuous curves that mimic wave currents. The manatee exhibit was creatively flanked by a pseduo-building clad with a weathered-looking clapboard and shutters. In the cafeteria, cleverly named facilities like Bite Cafe, were furnished in blue and green, in another nod to marine life. 

At the building’s base, Mote Sea contains three STEM classrooms with state-of-the-art experiential learning tools across biological, engineering, and marine fields. Their programs are  free for the more than 70,000 students  within the Sarasota and Manatee County’s School Districts, in addition to five workforce training labs for undergraduate and graduate students. 

The project is a result of a $132 million investment. It is anticipated that Mote SEA will welcome 700,000 guests in its first year.