"The major NSW Bicentennial project for 1988 in Sydney was the Darling Harbour redevelopment. Cox's firm produced three major structures. Amid a veritable armada of tall buildings, the small, unusual, and exciting Sydney Aquarium looks like a beached whale or some prehistoric sea beast, shiny and full-scaled. It differs from all the other buildings in that it was a privately funded building and focuses on an activity below the water rather than on top! In fact it is part building, part barge. It has three sections: an earthbound display; an exhibition and visitor centre; and a restaurant. To its north are three floating and semi-submerged freely moving tanks in which an Oceanarium is situated, allowing spectators to walk literally through walkways surrounded by water, and varieties of sea life. The third structure, the Maritime Service Board Wharf No. 10, also to the north, houses the support services and labs. The tanks, looking like small barges or ships moored to the wharf are covered by fabric roofs hung from masts and steel cable, all of which further extend in terms of maritime metaphors. The sensation of walking in a boat rather than on hard land is an important feature of this enterprising exhibition."

— Dennis Sharp. Twentieth Century Architecture: a Visual History. p398-9.