Corporate

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↳ Our Connected
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September
Month Year2020
 Welcome from the Director
↳ This decade marks an exciting time for Aquamarine. With several groundbreaking
projects completed in recent years, and a number more in progress, we’re expanding
comfortably into what we do best – building deeply collaborative partnerships and
projects that push boundaries.

Globally, we are in a time of great change, and new
opportunities and challenges ripe for innovation are
emerging for those with the appetite and the vision to seize
them. Populations are growing, the environment is
changing, and how people and cultures across the world
live and interact is always evolving – never more so than
this past year.
To achieve this, receptiveness to change is crucial for both
people and for businesses. Just as nature continues to
evolve, only when we too are willing to accept change as a
constant can we readily adapt to it. If we can adapt
ourselves and our practices, the more adept we can be to
overcome challenges, and recognise opportunity when new
information comes to hand.

As designers and implementers of entertainment Just as the natural world never stands still, neither can we.
destinations, we are called to respond to this changing
world, to ensure the experiences we create meet
contemporary needs, capitalise on opportunities, and better
serve people, communities and the planet.
Nicholas Traviss
↳ Aquamarine, Owner/Director

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Realising possibilities
↳ The Project Journey – an adaptive roadmap

The projects we love best are those that present unique challenges and complex
tasks to solve. So we believe in building problem solving into our processes at
every stage.

Realising a project to its full potential is never a straightforward, linear process from
concept to completion, especially at scale. But as is often said, seen in the right way
issues can present opportunities. It is often in a project’s hurdles, its twists and turns,
that the most interesting ideas and insights appear. In fact, some of the projects we
are proudest of were originally brought to Aquamarine as issues to be solved.

Within Aquamarine’s methodology, structure and agility go hand in hand. Process

sets the path, and agility helps us navigate the detours, all the while remaining laser-
focused on our end goal. The destination – a project’s vision – must remain true, but
sometimes the route to get there requires a little adaptability (or a lot).

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↳ Who is Aquamarine?
We are an international consultancy,
specializing in large entertainment and
lifestyle projects.

↳ We oversee projects from concept

and design, through development
and into business operations.

↳ We create world-leading
architectural developments designed
to bring the wonder of our natural
environment to people around the
world in an innovative, sustainable,
and memorable way, and provide
special spaces for people to live,
work and play.

↳ Our vision is to enrich lives and

places by creating immersive
experiences that honor natural
ecosystems and challenge and
improve on traditional entertainment
development.

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↳ Design for
better lives
At Aquamarine, we design, build, and operate
natural experience destinations, such as
oceanariums, botanical gardens, adventure parks,
waterparks, and many other developments.

At the core of our work is a knowledge that beautiful things happen

when people collaborate, connect with each other, and connect with
nature. With this in mind, we create customized destinations and
built environments that deliver enriching, rewarding and
sustainable experiences.

From Auckland to Moscow, Jakarta to Ohio and Mysore to

Panama, our specialist teams’ concept, design, build and manage
successful experience businesses, each one tailored to the
community it exists in.

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↳ We belong to
We are proud to be members of these professional bodies:

↳ American Institute of ↳ American Society of ↳ New Zealand

Architects Landscape Architects Designers Institute

↳ International Association ↳ U.S. Green ↳ Association of Zoos and

of Amusement Parks and Building Council Aquariums
Attractions (IAAPA)

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↳ Our work

We start with a vision, and work back from there, creating

insightfully customized solutions that meet objectives, and
meet demand.

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↳ Our projects span diverse
sectors; with a focus on
memorable experiences that are
built on a deep understanding of
how people liv e, how they like to
be entertained, and how to
deliver to this within a
sustainable business model.

Our expertise is in thoughtfully incorporating

natural biomes into human entertainment and
living environments – connecting people to
immersive experiences of our world in
whatever form suits the brief.
Whether that be sustainable resorts or unique
hotels, tourism-based projects, botanical
gardens and landscaped parks, amusement
parks, retail malls or family entertainment
centers, oceanariums, aquariums and
waterparks, high-rise and low-rise apartments
or large-scale destination projects
incorporating a range of attractions.

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↳ Seek insight,
shape the world.

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We offer turnkey specialist
consulting services ranging from
concept, to development, to
construction, to operation,
in these areas:
Architecture
↳ Architectural design
↳ Concept design
↳ Construction supervision
↳ Design supervision
↳ Project co-ordination
Branding
↳ Brand design and development
↳ Name generation
↳ Visual concept
Engineering
↳ Electrical design
↳ Mechanical design
↳ Plumbing design
↳ Structural design
Exhibits
↳ Exhibit design
↳ Thematic journey
↳ Graphics and signage
↳ Visual communication design
↳ Graphic display design
Interiors
↳ Interior design
Landscape architecture
↳ Landscape design
↳ Landscape engineering
Specialist design and engineering
↳ Aquarium turnkey design and engineering
↳ Botanic garden turnkey design and engineering
↳ Waterpark turnkey design and engineering
Operations
↳ Operations and management consultancy
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↳ What we build
Bespoke solutions for unique locations. We create (and help
operate) special spaces for people to live, work and play while
thoughtfully incorporating the natural world.

↳ Adventure parks and playgrounds ↳ Hotels

↳ Amusement parks ↳ Landscaped parks
↳ Apartments & living spaces ↳ Leisure centers
(high rise and low rise) ↳ Luxury residences
↳ Aquariums & oceanariums ↳ Museums
↳ Botanic gardens ↳ Resorts
↳ Discovery centers ↳ Tourism attractions
↳ Destination projects ↳ Waterparks
↳ Entertainment centers & malls
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↳ Why we do it
Creating spaces that enrich lives and places.

Our mission at Aquamarine is to bring a love and wonder for our diverse
natural environment to people across the globe, through immersive
experiences that educate, and enhance lives. Our projects deliver many
benefits such as:

↳ Connecting people and communities

↳ Increasing visitor wellbeing
↳ Fostering local growth through employment and tourism
↳ Supporting the environment
↳ Education and conservation initiatives
↳ Better lives through entertainment and lifestyle enjoyment

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↳ Our philosophy
Our approach is informed by many years of
experience and learnings made along the way. We
adhere to strong principles and practices to ensure
sustainable results and better outcomes for all
involved.
Stay curious
Every project and the people it serves is unique. We
undertake significant research to understand full context,
and the quality of our work is built on a deep understanding
of how people live, how they like to be entertained, and
how to deliver to this within a sustainable business model.
Through personal observation, we immerse ourselves in
each place we are designing for, and conduct detailed
research into social, environmental, commercial, and
political factors. Custom solutions are built from here.
Create connection
Our multi-disciplinary network of specialists spans the
globe. Because we work all over the world, understanding
and adapting to cultural and geographical diversity is
central to our approach on every project, and we love the
challenge. Collaborative practice and partnership with local
communities, governments and investors is a core priority,
with a focus on designing to create opportunities that
improve people’s lives, via employment, education, and
entertainment. In every project, our aim is to create a
unique asset that generates pride and ownership within the
local community..
Honour nature
We are deeply passionate about the natural world.
Sustainable practice and innovation is central to our
approach and we believe it is vital for any business that
hopes to succeed in the future. As part of this,
environmental education is central in our entertainment
developments, as is the wellbeing of any living species
housed within them.
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↳ Project
methodology

↳ At Aquamarine, initial project briefings can often be as vague
as a fleeting thought from a client, or as broad as an idea for an
entire region re-imagined.
↳ Because of this, within Aquamarine’s project methodology,
structure and agility go hand in hand.
↳ We believe that our role goes well beyond simply providing
design ideas. Each new project requires our total commitment
from concept to completion.
↳ This enables us to meet your hopes and aspirations, as well as ↳ The destination – the project’s vision – must remain true, but
the unique complexities and challenges of each project. sometimes the route to get there requires a little adaptability.
↳ Our framework for success is built on our comprehensive
design process.
↳ Process sets the path, and agility helps us navigate the detours,
all the while remaining laser-focused on our end goal.

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↳ Recent project experience
Since 1973 Aquamarine has been involved in many major developments across the world. Pioneers in the
field, we have conceptualised, designed, constructed and managed over a 1000 projects. Listed here is a
summary of our most recent projects from across the world.

Russia 2012 Jomtien Aquarium Jomtien Beach

2019-2022 Lukoil Apartments Kogalym 2007 Chiang Mai Zoo Aquarium Chang Mai
2019-2022 Philosophers Kogalym North Korea
Stone Apartments 2012 Wonson Aquarium Wonson
2018-2022 Galactika Park Kogalym Vietnam
2018-2022 Yaranga Botanical Garden Kogalym Mexico 2016 Son Tra Aquarium Da Nang
2018-2022 Galactika Mall Extensions Kogalym 2015-2020 Los Cabos Aquarium Los Cabos 2007 Vinpearl Aquarium Nga Trang
2013-2016 Galactica Entertainment Kogalym 2015-2020 Cancun Oceanarium Cancun
and Sports Complex Malaysia
2007 Primorsky Oceanarium Vladivostok 2019 Bidong Island Kuala
2006 Neptune AquariumSt Petersburg
Turkey
2010-2014 EMAAR Discovery Center Istanbul Botanical Park Terengganu
2009 Turkauzoo Aquarium Istanbul 2015 Elephant Wildlife Park Kuala Lumpur
South Korea 2008 Antalya Aquarium Antalya 2012 Genting HighlandsPahang
2018-2020 Daejeon AquariumDaejeon
2015 Blue Hotel Aquarium Incheon Saudi Arabia
India
2018-2019 Gujurat Oceanarium Ahmedabad 2014 Tiaf Childrens Center Tiaf
New Zealand 2017-2018 VGP Marine Kingdom Chennai
2018-2020 Tauranga Aquarium Tauranga 2017 Gun House Mysore United States of America
2017-2018 Stonefields Aqaurium Auckland Restaurant and Bar 2012 Port Huron Aquarium Port Huron
2017 National Aquarium Napier 2012 Eleven Times
United Arab Emirates Square Aquarium New York
Monaco 2017-2018 EMAAR Dubai Mall Aquarium Dubai 2011 Greater Cleveland Cleveland
2018-2020 Jesse’s Jungle Childcare Monaco 2013-2016 EMAAR Dubai Mall Aquarium Dubai Aquarium

Peru Panama Malta

2015-2020 Lima Aquarium Lima 2017 Panama Aquarium Panama City 2012 Malta Aquarium Malta

Paraguay Thailand Iran

2015-2020 Itaipu Aquarium Itaipu 2017 Phuket Aquarium Phuket 2012 TAT Mall Aquarium Tehran

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↳ Feasibility

The ‘practical’ place to start, feasibility is a crucial

first step in many projects. This sets the context to
understand how, and if, an outcome can be achieved
and sets the framework for a project to be designed
from.

Good feasibility assessment can completely change

the intended direction of a project and can make or
break its success down the line. This is not just about
crunching the numbers, and involves a multi-faceted
approach with intuitive, observational, and analytical
components necessary to get the full picture.

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↳ Services
Project brief
The success of a project greatly benefits from a good quality
brief. You describe the aspirational, physical, and functional
requirements of the project, the activities and spaces to be
accommodated, desired materials and finishes, and any
design ideas and inspirations you may have.
We work hard to make our designs particular to their site
and specific to their owners.
Feasibility study Site analysis
The first step to determine if the project you have in mind will work - The site analysis identifies all aspects that may influence the
our approach is "start anywhere, look everywhere". development potential of a site, as the success of a project is built on
its relationship to its site and surroundings.
Our starting point is always to explore the social, cultural, and political
landscape as deeply as possible. How do the people here live, work and We advise on physical features like topography, vegetation, solar and
play? We work on challenging, always, to ‘prove it’ – we know a wind exposure, and soil conditions. We also look at constraints such
project will work when we see it is going to work. as availability of services, local building regulations, zoning,
stormwater management, impervious coverage, forestation, flood
Our approach to feasibility combines methodical structure with fluidity. plain, parking requirements, and site orientation.
Always starting with a base process to assess competitors,
demographics, population profile including local, international and
tourism stats – we get our hands on as much information as possible
then apply our tried-and-true methodology to it. Then, there is the
intuitive layer of observation and response to local contexts, combining
common sense with those leaps of insight that come from deep
questioning.
This allows us to determine if there is a market for the project, whether
the project is financially viable, and if it will deliver for its investors.
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↳ Case Study

Yaranga Gardens
Kogalym, Russian Federation
Yaranga Gardens started off with a single phone call.
One hand-drawn sketch and an email later, the project
was in full swing.

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Taking full advantage of strong trust and a collaborative relationship with our
client, we were able to move things very quickly, sharing ideas informally
with agile response and open dialogue.

Yet the strictest rigour was still applied before moving concepts forward.
While operational manuals may seem at first like something that belongs
further into the process, we see it as a crucial step in the early concept phase.
Understanding operational intentions deeply informs concept and design.
Considerations as granular as staffing numbers, intended capacity and
activities to be included are all interdependent, affecting everything from
concept feasibility to architectural design and everything in between.

When designing an environment that holds a myriad of living creatures, it

becomes all the more important, requiring conversations with aquarists,
biologists, curators and other experts as early in the project as possible to
ensure the wellbeing of all life within is front and centre.

Proper preparation is vital to ensure the speed at which a project can become
fully operational (and thus profitable). It is also vital to avoid failure in the
duty of care for wildlife, which is an ethical responsibility in developing any
natural habitat display.  

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↳ Case Study - Yaranga Gardens

Design and engineering

Not simply architectural, for entertainment
destinations, design and engineering have many
facets to consider. From visitor journey creation and
storytelling, to materials and structural elements, to
environmental requirements to support living
habitats, all of this is developed within the
parameters of the overall concept and intention.

A project thrives when the partners we engage bring

the same level of enthusiasm for innovation to the
table that we do.

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↳ Case Study - Yaranga Gardens

Services
Developed design
The Preliminary Design is refined, ideas are tested, and
the shape of the final design is. We will make
recommendations for the design of details, and the use
of materials, that reinforce the vision for the project.
Detailed design
We prepare detailed working drawings, specifications and other
documents for pricing, construction & compliance purposes.
This includes construction details, materials, components,
systems, and finishes.
Specialty engineering
Our construction drawings are more than just
blueprints, they detail every step of the building
process – from cost estimating to energy
consumption.

We think about priorities in terms of time, quality, and This advances the design of the project to a level of detail that
cost. While it is difficult to predict the final cost of a allows a construction contractor to assess the full scope of the
building, we identify all potential costs and will form an project, and so that all parties can understand how the
estimate based on that knowledge. components of the project come together.

At the conclusion of Developed Design, the building is
sufficiently defined to give a clear understanding of the
scope of work, costs and the architectural look and feel.
This documentation forms the basis for tendering and
negotiation with a construction contractor
Our thorough documentation ensures a high quality of work
and allows us to maintain control over costs and design
outcomes during construction.

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↳ Case Study

Galactika
Kogalym, Russian Federation
Our largest project to date, the Galactika Family Entertainment Centre in
Kogalym, Russian Federation, offered up many challenges during
construction. Not least, creating tropical habitats in a sub-arctic climate and
ensuring safe and smooth delivery of living creatures into a relatively
remote region of the world far from their typical environs.

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Among the eventful experiences of the project, was our first site visit
made at a frosty -47ºC – a telling sign of the conditions in which
construction would take place. We worked closely with our main
contractors, and had supervisors on the ground on-location, enabling us
to advise on and resolve issues promptly.

Long-term commitment is part of our approach – and a complimentary

audit at Galactika three years after completion ensured we could not
only uncover and correct any defects,
but that we learn from each process and ensure confidence
in results.

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Case Study - Galactika

Operations
Where all the hard work of good feasibility planning comes to
fruition.

Successful operational management of an entertainment centre is a complex equation of

elements, from back of house functions, systems and processes, ticketing and
productisation, to staffing considerations and the visitor experience, to visual design, flow,
and utilisation of space.

With living habitats added to the mix, animal wellbeing and mortality rates are crucial
considerations. With so much to think about, this is why end-to-end planning is crucial
from the very first stage of any concept.

Fortunately, operational success is not a ‘lock and leave’ function – and we see it as
something that can be continually reviewed, improved, and optimised – particularly as
situations and contexts shift and change in the surrounding environment and community.

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↳ Case Study - Galactika
Services
Animal procurement
Where we procure the inhabitants within our projects
from is an important decision. We strive to practice
sustainable collection, using only the best and most
trustworthy partners.
We preplan every step to ensure the collection, holding,
shipping, customs clearance, and final transport all run
smoothly.
Branding
Driving attendance and revenue is key.
We can assist in the design and establishment of your
brand — including naming and logo design —
advertising, merchandising, online communications,
sales operations, event sales, and corporate
partnerships.
We excel in assessing and leveraging audience insight to
drive brand awareness and experience.
Operations and management
We provide you with the tools to maintain top quality
facilities that are second to none. We do this by aligning
the project with objectives, goals, and operational plans,
defining specific roles for accountability, developing
systems to monitor and improve practices and
procedures, and developing measurable objectives.
This can range from writing Operations and
Management manuals, advising on marketing and
promotion activities, organizing staff training, or
selecting a General Manager.
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We're inspired by challenges. We’ve built our business
on being adaptable, working in the world’s most
unique, complex and demanding contexts. We pride
ourselves on being able to craft solutions which
inherently fit their context.

From feasibility studies recently completed in

Columbia, Nigeria, Bali and Jakarta, to projects in
North Korea and Russia, our diverse project base
speaks for itself.

Whether you are interested in exploring new concepts

or investing in our projects — we are ready to shape
your vision for the future.

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 Nicholas Traviss
M. + 64 21 448 647
nicholas@aqm.nz
www.aqm.nz

Ready to discuss your

vision?
We’re ready to make it happen