Projects

The Rebuild

This large-format acrylic aquarium window installation was part of the California Academy of Sciences’ complete rebuild in Golden Gate Park — a $500 million project that broke ground in September 2005 and reopened to the public in September 2008. American Sealants Inc. had the distinct honor of being selected to assist with the massive undertaking, contributing acrylic panels across the Academy’s aquarium systems.

The Aquariums

The Academy’s seven aquarium exhibits range from 16,000 to 212,000 gallons. The largest, a Philippine coral reef tank, is described as the world’s deepest interior coral reef ecosystem — 25 feet deep and home to more than 3,000 tropical reef fish. A second major exhibit, the Amazon Flooded Forest, submerges a 25-foot walk-through tunnel in 100,000 gallons of freshwater.

The Panel

The largest panel installed had a fish-eye shape — to date, the largest and oddest-shaped acrylic panel ASI had installed. [New paragraph — added] Independently, a panel matching that description appears in Reynolds Polymer’s own account of the project: a coral reef viewing window over 32 feet wide, nearly 16 feet tall, and almost 8 inches thick, curved along both its horizontal and vertical axes. The experts were called in to make sure the job was done right the first time.

National Recognition

American Sealants Inc.’s work was featured on the Discovery Channel’s Extreme Engineering, which aired its California Academy of Sciences episode on November 8, 2006, while the building was still under construction, nearly two years before its 2008 reopening.

https://www.calacademy.org/