Aurland Lookout
Aurland Look Out, Norway
Project and Process
The site is above Aurland, a small town in Sogn og Fjordane, offering a spectacular view of one of the larger fjords on the West Coast of Norway. Aurland is three hours drive from Bergen, Norways second largest city. The client is the Norwegian Highways Department (Statens Vegvesen). We were one of three architecture firms invited to deliver a design proposal for this site. We won first prize and worked on detail drawings for this project with a very young engineering firm. The project was built in Fall 2005 and will have and had an official opening in June 2006.
The place has attracted people from all over the world. We called our competition entry640m over Aurland and 20120km from Tokyo, keeping in mind the uniqueness of the place in the bigger picture.
Two young architects that are under 35 years old design the project.
The Place the nature
Nature first and architecture second was the guiding principal when we sat down to design this project. It was immediately obvious to us that in such beautiful surroundings one must make the least possible encroachment in the existing landscape and terrain. The landscape is so fantastic that it is difficult to improve the place, but at the same time very easy to destroy the atmosphere by inserting too many elements into the site. Even though we have chosen an expressive form, the concept is a form of minimalism, in an attempt to conserve and complement the existing nature. The choice of site automatically implied a desired to enhance the landscape and create a deeply emotive and thrilling experience.
Organization
Today there are many people stopping at this site to enjoy the phenomenal views over the fjords. At times the areas gets filled with cars and tour busses. One of the first things we decided to do was to form a small parking area for 2 buses and 10 cars further up the road to help keep the place pure and not to disturb the look out. In addition, we designed a public toilet made of black concrete with wooden walls. The toilet has a heavy expression while the lookout is lively and light. The construction is a bridge that one can go out onto, as a structure in the air. The object is 4 m wide, 30 long, and 9m high ramp-like-structure. At the end of the structure, we placed a tilted glass slab as to not stop the view.
The Horizon and Dramatization
To make the situation even more dramatic it was important for us to create the experience of leaving the mountainside. We wanted people to come out in the air. The construction creates a distinct horizon; a bridge in the open room of this large fjord. It is imperative that the landscape and the vegetation not altered, but are protected so that one came come out from the landscape and experience it from new standpoint.
We have managed to behold all of the large pine trees on the site. This allows us to create an interaction between the structure and nature. One can walk out into the air through the treetops, helping dramatises the experience of nature and the larger landscape room. Many of our projects are devoted to maintaining a rapport of perfect and serene harmony with the environment. Conversely, here we explored a comparison with nature, by introducing a researched tension.
Final Facts
The project is a part of the national program for tourist routes developed by the Norwegian Highway department. The structure is made from local wood on top of a steel frame. Aside from the laminated curved parts, produced in the Netherlands, the processing took place in Moelven, Norway.
Clients: The Norwegian Highways Department (Statens Vegvesen)
Design Competition: October 2002
Construction: 2005
Completion: 2006
Authors:
Todd Saunders
Tommie Wilhelmsen