For Entertainment
One iconic and infamous example of an entertainment focused aquarium is SeaWorld San Diego. The SeaWorld in San Diego was the first SeaWorld park created (SeaWorld | Definition, history, parks, & facts | britannica money, n.d). It was made at the request of the City of San Diego (Seaworld Master Plan Update, 2001, p. I-1). Since its conception it was designed as a theme park first with other purposes taking second place (Seaworld Master Plan Update, 2001, pg. I-1). This focus on a theme park rather than a traditional aquarium has led to a drastically different architectural layout than the previously discussed buildings. It's much more spread out and it comprises multiple smaller low lying buildings than a typical aquarium dedicated to education and rehabilitation (SeaWorld Master Plan, 2001, II-9). Making it a built landscape rather than a single building.
Another feature of SeaWorld that differs it from such aquariums is how it uses attractions. This includes small amphitheatres for marine mammals to perform and do tricks as a way to entertain the audience. SeaWorld also has non-animal related attractions such as rollocoasters and a theatre. Not to mention the inclusion of various cafes (SeaWorld Master Plan, 2001, II-9). This overall architectural design scheme is made more focused on the humans than the sealife.
Sea Life Park Hawaii is similar to Sea World in many aspects but on a smaller scale. It was opened in 1964 at Waimanalo, Hawaii (Discover Sea Life Park, n.d). Its smaller layout compared to Sea World does mean that it lacks larger attractions such as roller coasters and theatres. That being said it still has the flat and spread out architecture of a theme park (State Of Hawai'i Department Of Land and Natural Resources
Office Of Conservation and Coastal Lands, 2023, p. 0-5).
Interestingly there does seem to be more of a conversation focus with this park. They have dedicated portions of their resources to native seabird rehabilitation (Native Seabirds, n.d). This park even has a seabird sanctuary built in where birds that cannot be released back into the wild reside (Native Seabirds, n.d). This along with other aquariums explored so far has shown that just because a structure starts out with a main goal in mind doesn't mean that it can't be used for other purposes later.