The Deep

The World’s only “submarium”, The Deep is a unique structure that leads the way in aquatic architecture and design. A central objective was to create a building with a bold, pioneering image to catalyse major regeneration throughout the city and its region.

The Deep looks for inspiration to a range of precedents and the design conjures up metaphorical associations with waves or glacier-like forms. Materials are in different colours and textures, including coloured concrete, acrylic render, profiled metal, enamelled glass and rhomboid sheets of marine-grade aluminium as used in shipbuilding, which takes on different colours according to how the light and the reflections hit it, mirroring the sea and reflecting the industrial past and growth of Hull as a trading port.

The roof plane and wall surfaces of the two buildings that form The Deep are constructed as a three-dimensional object instead of a series of two-dimensional planes. The wave like contours of the visitor attraction highlights the geography of the site and the aquatic function of the building.

This is a landmark project in the North East of England and the area’s most successful new visitor attraction receiving its millionth visitor just 14 months after opening. This year Hull is the UK City of Culture and The Deep has been a focal point of celebrations, including displaying a projection of Hull’s history on its external walls.