Tonglu Service Area Aquarium in China: How Lanhu Acrylic Solved the Engineering Challenges of a Giant Cylinder Aquarium

SHANGHAI - Rezul -- In large aquarium projects, the greatest challenge is not size alone, but turning an ambitious concept into a safe, buildable, visually seamless, and operationally stable reality.

The Tonglu Service Area Aquarium in Zhejiang, China, is a strong example. At its center is a giant acrylic cylinder aquarium measuring 13 meters in diameter and 13.5 meters in height. Located within a highway service area, the project transforms a transport stop into a destination experience and has attracted extensive attention from CCTV and other Chinese media.

A Complex Acrylic Structure with Tunnel and Elevator

The project required the integration of a super-large acrylic cylinder aquarium, a central tunnel, an elevator system, an underwater ancient-city themed environment, and long-term life support for marine organisms.

A structure of this scale already involves major water pressure, fabrication, installation, and maintenance challenges. Adding a tunnel and elevator significantly increases the complexity of structural coordination, waterproofing, visitor circulation, and installation tolerances.

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One of the most demanding technical issues was large-scale acrylic bonding and assembly. For a giant cylindrical aquarium, seamless transparency is essential not only to visual quality but also to visitor confidence and long-term structural performance.

For Lanhu Acrylic, the objective was clear: structural safety, seamless transparency, and long-term stability.

Engineering a Living Public Attraction

The underwater landscape was designed around an ancient submerged city, creating a more immersive and memorable visitor experience. The aquarium also supports mermaid performances and feeding shows and maintains approximately 5,000 marine organisms, including sharks, rays, and schools of pelagic fish.

This means the project must function not only as a transparent water structure, but also as a stable living system supporting biological management, water quality, life support, visitor safety, and daily operations.

Why the Project Matters

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The Tonglu Service Area Aquarium demonstrates how modern aquarium engineering must combine structural safety, visual continuity, visitor experience, biological operation, and long-term reliability.

Lanhu Acrylic supports complex water-retaining projects through large acrylic fabrication, structural coordination, bonding and transparency control, BIM-based detailing, engineering delivery support, and themed-environment coordination.

For ultra-large aquarium projects, clients need more than acrylic panels. They need confidence that ambitious designs can be delivered safely, clearly, and sustainably.

The Tonglu Service Area Aquarium reflects Lanhu Acrylic's focus on solving complex transparent water projects through engineering expertise, seamless transparency, and long-term stability.