The Mote Science Education Aquarium is the newest extension and presence for the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium. In conjunction with their other campuses throughout Florida, this building is to be the prime manifestation of Mote’s research and educational services. The intent of the building is to be a tool for showcasing the new and ever rotating research that is being conducted by the world-renowned staff. Through its laboratory classrooms the research being conducted by Mote is shared with students ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade. The Marine Ecology Laboratory, the Biomedical Laboratory and the Ocean Tech Laboratory, coupled with over one million gallons of habitat, create a touchpoint for the integration of the world of marine biology into the lives and education of the students of the surrounding community. Mote has chosen this location, so it can expand its current access to the community and engage with more people that it has ever done before. With an anticipated 600,000 visitors a year and being located within eyesight of I-75, this location might be the first experience that the visitor has with the Mote brand. Because of this, the building needs to have an iconic presence that sets Mote apart from the fabric of the geographic region and helps drive attention and recognition to its already established stature in the marine biology world. The building needs to show off how amazing the work being done at Mote really is. To best represent the direction that MOTE is taking to pushing forward conservation and stewardship of marine life, the building can be gesturally understood as a boat, charting the waters in search for new ideas and new information to bring back to its community. With wind swept layers of metal panel, the form of the building moves at full speed, breaking down its form at the stern, but solid and steady as it raises towards the sky at the bow. Surrounding the building is a metal skin protecting the program from the elements of the sea. Comprised of a panelized system we took the influence faceted fish scales and swarms of schooling fish to wrap the building in activity both in form and materiality. Adjusting the enclosure and dialing in the eccentricity of the form helps us balance the gestural move within the budget. Through iterative scripting and client feedback the building not only achieves the narrative form, but also a rationalized surface that is supported with slanted columns that make up the structure for the interior space. The base of the building holds the external functions, the multipurpose space, the classrooms/laboratories, and administration offices, and all of the program that have direct interface with the community. Also located on the ground level is the main exhibit tanks, Gulf of Mexico tank, that showcases the local species. After that, you ascend the staircase in the atrium and up into the belly of the boat as you tour the oceans of the world. Visiting research laboratories, species tanks, mammals, and seeing the staff conducting their work on public display, you eventually come full circle, as you step out onto the roof into the open Florida air where the otter and manatee tanks are. The Mote Science Education Aquarium is a ship whose mission is to bring the love of marine life, through research and education, to the community.