Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the glass.
A council headquarters on the Thames, an aquarium opened in 1997 and fourteen zones of ocean life offer several ways into the story of SEA LIFE London.
On this page
County Hall
County Hall was designed by Ralph Knott in an Edwardian Baroque style and opened by King George V in 1922. It was the headquarters of the London County Council and later the Greater London Council.
The building is listed at Grade II*, and today it holds hotels and attractions as well as the aquarium.
An aquarium since 1997
The London Aquarium opened in County Hall on 28 March 1997. Merlin Entertainments bought it in 2008 and reopened it in 2009 as SEA LIFE London Aquarium.
A penguin exhibit followed in 2011. The aquarium now has 14 themed zones across three floors.
Ocean life and conservation
The aquarium counts more than 500 species, from sharks and rays to seahorses, jellyfish and a living coral reef, and its Conservation Cove looks at the threats facing marine life.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
