Okeanos Group designs and installs custom commercial aquariums for hotels, restaurants, retail flagships, museums, galleries, corporate headquarters, healthcare facilities, and other commercial venues across NYC, the tri-state area, and internationally. The firm has completed commercial installations continuously since 2002, including museum and gallery work for the Rubin Museum of Art, the Marian Goodman Gallery, the Brant Foundation, the Corning Museum of Glass, and Pierre Huyghe's exhibitions in Paris.
What commercial aquarium installation involves
Commercial aquariums differ from residential installations in scope, scale, and operational requirements. Commercial installations typically face stricter approval processes (building codes, public safety requirements, ADA considerations), larger physical scale, more demanding presentation standards (the aquarium is often a primary visual feature in a high-traffic space), and operational requirements that don't apply in residential contexts (24/7 monitoring, redundant life support, professional staff training).
Okeanos handles all of this as part of the standard commercial scope. The firm's institutional experience with museum-grade documentation and approval processes translates directly to commercial work.
Common commercial project types
- Hotel lobby and reception aquariums
- Restaurant feature aquariums (sushi bars, fine dining dining rooms, hotel restaurants)
- Retail flagship feature installations
- Museum and gallery installations
- Corporate headquarters reception and conference space aquariums
- Healthcare facility waiting room and consultation room aquariums
- Religious and ceremonial space water features
- Specialty entertainment venue installations
Notable commercial and institutional work
Okeanos's commercial and institutional project history includes installations for the Rubin Museum of Art (NYC), the Marian Goodman Gallery (NYC), the Brant Foundation, the Corning Museum of Glass, Pierre Huyghe's exhibitions in Paris, and commercial work that has been featured in design press. The firm's institutional documentation and approval experience makes it a fit for projects requiring museum-grade or institutional-quality scope.
Scope and pricing
Commercial installations typically range from $150,000 for substantial retail or restaurant feature aquariums to over $5,000,000 for museum-scale installations or complex multi-system commercial projects. Pricing depends on tank scale, livestock complexity, life-support engineering, public safety requirements, and the ongoing maintenance contract scope.
Commercial ongoing maintenance is typically more intensive than residential maintenance because the aquarium is in a public-facing space with high presentation standards. Maintenance contracts for commercial installations typically run $3,000 to $25,000 per month depending on scale and service requirements.
Public safety and approval scope
Commercial aquariums in publicly accessible spaces face approval requirements that residential installations don't. These include:
- Building code compliance: tempered glass requirements, structural review, fire protection coordination
- ADA compliance: clear floor space, height requirements for accessible viewing
- Public safety: barriers or setbacks for large tanks, emergency drainage provisions, sealed mechanical access
- Operational compliance: livestock origin documentation, water chemistry records, emergency response protocols
Okeanos coordinates with the project's architect, code consultant, and the relevant approval authorities (building department, fire department, health department where applicable) to ensure the installation meets all required approvals.
Coordination with commercial design teams
Commercial projects typically involve a more complex design team than residential projects: the architect, the interior designer, the brand or hospitality consultant, the MEP engineer, the structural engineer, the lighting consultant, the AV consultant, and the general contractor. Okeanos coordinates with all of these disciplines and delivers documentation in formats compatible with standard commercial project workflows.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have hospitality and restaurant experience? Yes. The firm has completed installations for hotel and restaurant clients. Hospitality and restaurant work has specific operational considerations (24/7 operation, food-safety adjacency, presentation requirements during peak service hours) that the firm is experienced with.
Can you handle museum and institutional approval requirements? Yes. The firm's institutional work (Rubin Museum, Marian Goodman, Brant Foundation, Corning Museum, Pierre Huyghe Paris exhibitions) involved museum-grade documentation and approval processes. This experience translates to other institutional and high-approval commercial work.
What's the typical commercial project timeline? Six to twenty-four months depending on scale and complexity. Museum-grade and large-scale commercial installations typically run longer than residential projects because of additional approval steps and more complex coordination.
Do you provide ongoing maintenance for commercial clients? Yes. Ongoing maintenance is part of the standard commercial scope. Most commercial clients maintain their systems with Okeanos under multi-year service contracts.