The aquarium business "is dependent on the engineering challenges of containing water and resisting corrosion of materials; longevity; and low maintenance,” says Peter Chermayeff, an architect who has been designing major aquariums around the world for over 50 years.
Aquariums—for which ENR has compiled a list at left of the world's largest—are typically built by general contractors with experience in the water and wastewater sectors. One example is Brasfield & Gorrie. The contractor's first fish habitat was Atlanta's Georgia Aquarium, which contains the world’s largest single fish tank, the Ocean Voyager tank. The container is like "a giant treatment plant, with 100% turnover of water every 60 to 90 minutes,” says Chris Britton, division manager for Brasfield & Gorrie.