A Berlin hotel where a giant aquarium exploded more than a year ago, killing thousands of fish and sending a million litres of water bursting through the building, is rebuilding with a vertical garden instead.
The Radisson Hotel in Berlin won't rebuild the aquarium, which had been known as the Aquadom, and will put a 16 metre tall garden in the centre of the hotel atrium instead.
Building owner Union Investment announced on Thursday that a total of around 2,000 plants from 22 different species will grow in the garden, which will include an area of around 120 square metres.
The raised garden is modelled on the shape of a tree, and the project is being called "Living Tree." It is scheduled to be completed in the summer.
The hotel is expected to reopen at the end of the year.
The structure from what was once the aquarium has been incorporated into the vertical garden for sustainability reasons, the company said.
The greenery will ensure a pleasant indoor climate and act as a kind of air filter, as well as absorbing reverberation and noise, according to the company.
The Aquadom aquarium, a massive acrylic glass cylinder, dominated the atrium of the hotel and was home to about 1,500 fish. It burst in the early hours of December 16, 2022.
Two people were slightly injured. At least six stores in the building complex were damaged.
The incident attracted international attention.
