Nausicaá, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

Nausicaá is Europe’s largest aquarium and a unique center of scientific discovery. For visitors, it’s a mesmerising journey into the underwater home of more than 1,600 marine species. Dive through a massive wave as an escalator takes you to the depths of the sea and then rise to the surface in a submarine-like capsule elevator.

BUILDING FACTS

• Location: Boulogne-sur-Mer, France
• Building extension inaugurated: 2018
• Exhibition area: 10,000 sqm
• Building type: Aquarium
• Number of marine species: 1,600
• Number of visitors annually: 874,000 (2018)
• Building owner: Boulonnais conurbation
• Architect: Jacques Rougerie
• Contractor: VINCI Construction

CHALLENGES

• Create an immersive underwater experience for visitors to the extended aquarium
• Ensure smooth people flow for up to one million annual visitors to the aquarium
• Synchronise the different digital and physical elements of the aquarium journey for a unified visitor experience

SOLUTIONS

• Integrate the escalator journey with the experience
• Custom-design elevators that look and feel like underwater capsules
• Synchronise elevator movements and pace of travel with video material

KONE SOLUTIONS

• 3 KONE TranSys™ 5-tonne elevators
• 1 KONE TravelMaster™ escalator
• 2 KONE TranSys™ freight elevators
• 3 KONE MonoSpace® elevators

Watch the video >>