AIA gives 2016 Twenty-Five Year Award to the Monterey Bay Aquarium

If you've ever been to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, it's full of memorable sights — from the towering kelp forests inside to clear views of the Pacific Ocean outside. It's a tourist hotspot for anyone visiting the Bay Area.

Completed in 1984 and designed by San Francisco architecture firm EHDD, the aquarium recently won the honorable AIA Twenty-Five Award for 2016. Since 1969, the Twenty-Five Year Award recognizes a completed building that has continuously conveyed architectural design excellence over the past 25-35 years. 

EHDD will be presented with the award during the 2016 AIA National Convention in Philadelphia this May.

Read on for more.

"The Monterey Bay Aquarium hosts two million annual visitors and has been cited as inspiration for other aquariums across the United States and around the world. It has had global impact on issues of ocean health, education and conservation."

"Flexibility and adaptability are the great hallmarks of sustainability, and the aquarium’s construction is as sophisticated as its design. Monterey Bay Aquarium set new technical standards for aquariums, which still influence today, such as the flow-through seawater-based heat pump system, naturalistic exhibitions and corrosion protection."

"Most remarkable perhaps of all the technical achievements is that the aquarium’s flexible design has accommodated multiple changes over the years which have built upon its original concept."

"Programs such as the internationally respected Seafood Watch program, the foundation for the global sustainable seafood movement, have grown out of a tradition of innovation that stems from the aquarium’s inception."

"When EHDD was asked to design the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the client’s (David Packard of Hewlett-Packard and his wife, Lucile Packard) most important requirement was that the building last 50 years. Thirty-two years later, the aquarium is not only still standing; it enjoys enduring and widespread popularity and is equally cherished by tourists and locals alike."

Recent winners of the AIA Twenty-Five Year Award include: SOM's Broadgate Exchange House , the Washington D.C. Metro rail system, the Renzo Piano-designed Menil Collection, the John Hancock Tower in Boston, and Frank Gehry's Santa Monica Residence.