The project is located in Indonesia which is the largest archipelagic country in the world with a larger percentage of the sea area than the land. Indonesia's oceans have a high level of biodiversity and endemism, so it is known as one of the mega-biodiversity countries. However, in reality the existence of various marine biota in Indonesia is now threatened by irresponsible behavior. One of the underlying factors for this behavior is the lack of marine education and awareness in Indonesia. Therefore, this oceanarium facility is designed to be able to accommodate and provide education in an entertaining (recreational) way so that it can be accepted and understood easily by the visitors.

The design raised the theme "Sensuous experience of life journey under the water". The purpose of the theme is to create perspective for visitors in order to raise awareness of environmental issues and to educate visitors with a simulation concept as if visitors dive into the sea. The simulation concept is implemented by dividing buildings vertically based on biota habitats. The design form concept is based on a metaphorical approach of water which is implemented physically on the building form with a mass that consists of several circular that resemble undulation/ circles on water and non-physically with a spatial zoning according to the habitat of biota and with a recreational circulation of the building that twists and turns also connected in a loop that creates a sensation of diving into a vortex.

The Surabaya Oceanarium consists of a digital area and conventional aquarium area that involve digital technology so the development of the educational facilities can always be relevant with the presence of technology that can support rapid development. The recreation circulation starts from the ground floor to the top floor with digital gallery facilities which consist of dioramas, interactive touch screen panel and VR area. The circulation then continues to the aquarium area with a spatial arrangement based on the depth of biota habitat and the circulation of the aquarium that starts from the highest floor of the building so that it can give the impression of diving to the sea. The circulation of the aquarium starts from the top floor (4th floor) which is the coastal area that consists of the biota from the surface zone with a touch pool area, waterfall, mangroove pool, and main tank aquarium surface area with an audiovisual room and a view deck on it. Then the circulation goes down with a ramp to the 3rd floor which consists of a wall aquarium with a biota from epipelagic and bathypelagic division. The circulation then goes down again to the 2nd floor which consists of an individual and tunnel aquarium with a biota from abyssopelagic and hadalpelagic division. After that, the circulation ended up on the ground floor again, consisting of an amphitheater area and coral gallery.

Besides recreation facilities, this building also has supporting facilities such as a souvenir shop and restaurant that are separated from the main building mass and located near the lobby and recreation exit. The landscape of the building is planned to provide tourism facilities that support the main tourism inside the building. In the landscaping, there is an amphitheater area which is intended for fountain shows and a ground fountain plaza as a play area, above the recreational landscape area there is a view deck with a waterfall that faces the city icon “Suramadu Bridge”.

The building form is a metaphor of water which is dynamic and wavy. In the building, the water metaphor is implemented with a circular mass form that is divided into the main mass, supporting mass that consists of the lobby and ticketing area, also the supporting mass that consists of a restaurant and souvenir shop. The mass has a horizontal circulation that connects the three masses and a vertical circulation that also has a circular form as a metaphor of the water and it loops to create the sensation of diving into a vortex. The building is made with a rigid frame as the main structure and a wavy space frame with an ETFE roof.

The facade of this building is also inspired by the shape of the wavy water and also designed to portray the atmosphere of the aquarium habitat per floor with the variations of the natural lighting using the facade of aluminum blades. The deeper the depth of the sea zone, the darker it will be, so the aluminum blades of the facade are getting closer as it goes to the lowest floor, so that the light that enters is getting less and less to portray the atmosphere of the sea.