Seattle Aquarium, WA, USA
Installation of a 50,000-pound acrylic panel in an already completed building. A portion of the roof was removed to install the acrylic panel. American Sealants Inc. was told the panel could not be set without removing major support beams to the building as well. American Sealants Inc. completed the task without removing the beams in just a few hours.
The panel is the viewing window into the Seattle Aquarium’s “Window on Washington Waters” exhibit — a 120,000-gallon, two-story tank modeled after the rock formations at Neah Bay, home to salmon, rockfish, sea anemones, and other marine life native to Washington’s coastal waters. Cantilevered to angle forward and overhang 8 feet at the top, the acrylic itself measures roughly 20 feet tall, 40 feet wide, and 12.5 inches thick. It was manufactured by Reynolds Polymer Technology in Colorado; American Sealants Inc. handled getting it into the building and setting it in place.
That Reynolds Polymer-plus-ASI pairing isn’t unique to Seattle — it’s the same setup behind ASI’s work at Indianapolis Zoo, Valley Medical Center, Heron Tower in London, and the Scheels aquarium in Springfield, IL: Reynolds builds the acrylic, ASI gets it installed.