Colorado's Ocean Journey, LITTLETON, CO

Mechanical Construction Services: HVAC & Filtering Systems

TRAUTMAN & SHREVE VALUE DELIVERED

• Complete mechanical design/build engineering effort during construction period
• Mechanical construction completed within 18 months despite difficulties encountered throughout the project
• Trautman & Shreve worked a total of 155,000 man-hours without a single lost-time accident
• The Life Sciences Division exhibit and tank systems were turned over 6 months prior to opening, enabling time for the fish and the animals to acclimate to their new environments effectively
• The expeditious, quality mechanical service delivered by Trautman & Shreve contributed to a flawless opening day

MECHANICAL & HVAC SYSTEMS SCOPE OF WORK

Construction of a 100,000-square foot aquarium that contained 1,000,000 gallons of water for spectacular habitat viewing. The mechanical systems were mission critical and designed
to provide an atmosphere that simulated the unique habitats of each exhibit. The design leveraged the natural aquarium environment to provide maximum efficiency of the HVAC(heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) system.

The Life Support system was designed with state-of-the-art technology. Processed through these filter systems, the one million gallons of water served 11 major exhibits. The filtering systems included sand filters, protein skimmers, ozone, and biofiltration. Water used for backwashing is processed through the filtration and reused to maximize water conservation.

ENTERTAINMENT FACILITY BACKGROUND

Presented by Qwest, Ocean Journey is the Rocky Mountain Region's exclusive aquarium. This million-gallon adventure allows you to come within inches of thousands of fish, birds, invertebrates and mammals that rely upon water. More the 500 species are featured in recreations of river-to-ocean journeys, special touch pools, and family activities.

OBJECTIVES

Ocean Journey's mission was to inspire guests to discover, explore, enjoy and protect the aquatic world. More the 88,000 people have been admitted through the Ocean Passages Program that was set up for limited-income and underserved populations to visit the aquarium at no cost.

MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION SOLUTIONS

The new, state-of-the-art aquarium was to be a showcase tourist attraction for Denver. As such, it would feature massive tanks and exhibits filled with plants, fish and animals from around the world. The difficulties inherent in designing and building such a facility were magnified by three major challenges: the enormous responsibility of keeping the inhabitants alive and healthy in a wide variety of simulated ecosystems; serious space constraints; and special considerations involved with constructing an aquarium in the high-altitude, land-locked state of Colorado.

Trautman & Shreve, Inc. not only overcame challenges unique to Colorado, but they also found mechanical and HVAC systems solutions to problems that had plagued other aquariums for years. Those aquariums are now copying our innovative mechanical construction designs and strategies.

CLIENT:
Colorado's Ocean Journey

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
Hensel Phelps Construction Co.

ARCHITECT:
Odyssea

ENGINEER:
ABS Consultants, Inc.

PROJECT DURATION:
30 months

		New Construction
		Retrofit
		Electrical Construction
		Mechanical Construction
		Facilities Services
		Consulting Services
		HVAC Services
		Energy Solutions