After suffering a number of delays, work on the AU$50m (US$39.6m, €33.7m, £30.7m) Cairns Aquarium is in the final stages, with 12 September being touted as the visitor attraction's official opening date.

The three-storey, 10,000sq m (107,600sq ft) development will be home to more than 5,000 animals endemic to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Queensland's far north.

This will be Australia's first new public aquarium to be built in 17 years, and is expected to be a top tourist attrition for Cairns. Because of this, the project has enjoyed substantial government funding and support throughout its development.

Designed by Peddle Thorp Architects, in association with Ellick & Partners, the building's exterior is made up of a series of 'tectonic plates' symbolising the movement of the earth and subsequent creation of the Great Barrier Reef and Northern Queensland's rain forest covered mountains.

The architects are aquarium specialists, having worked on several previous projects, including the Melbourne and Dubai mall aquariums.

“The water is already in the building and all hands are on deck to get the water quality to the point where we can introduce animals," said aquarium manager Julie Cullen, speaking to the Herald Sun

“Once the fish are in it’ll be fairly quick before we open the doors to visitors.”

The Cairns region is a popular tourists destination, attracting 4.8 million visitors annually, generating approximately AU$3.1bn (US$2.45bn, €2.1bn, £1.9bn) for the local economy.

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