SeaWorld Shamu Whale Stadium

Winner of an American Institute of Architects award in 1988, this stadium was honored a second time in 2002 with the prestigious AIA Award of Excellence for Test of Time. The Test of Time Award recognizes distinguished single works of architecture, with timelessness of design, which has influenced that building or development type. 

More than 19 feet in length and weighing 8,000 pounds, Shamu and his fellow whales needed a home at SeaWorld that was anything but typical. The 6,000-seat Shamu Stadium, with deep water pools, was the largest marine mammal facility in the world when built. Unobstructed sight lines are provided for visitors by the unique radial steel truss roof structure sitting above two massive concrete columns. The 35-foot deep performance pool and ancillary basins contain five-million gallons of man-made seawater maintained at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.