Designed by two architects Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen, the 33-metre “diving board” shooting out from the road into thin air above the Aurland Fjord in Norway. This Aurland Lookout project is part of a national program on tourist routes commissioned by the Norwegian Highway Department.
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.
Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen
Aurland Lookout, image courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Nils Vik
+ Project description by Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen
The site is above Aurland, a small town in Sogn og Fjordane, one of the larger fjords on the West Coast of Norway. Aurland is three hours drive from Bergen, Norway’s 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 together with Engineer, Node Engineers, Bergen. The project was built in Fall 2005 and will have an official opening in June 2006.
The place has attracted people from all over the world. We called our competition entry “640 m over Aurland and 20,120 km from Tokyo”, keeping in mind the uniqueness of the place in the bigger picture.
Aurland Lookout, image courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Todd Saunders
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.
Aurland Lookout, image courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Todd Saunders
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. The construction is a bridge that one can go out onto, as a structure in the air. The structure is 4 m wide, 30 m long, and 9 m high out at the very end.
Aurland Lookout, image courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Todd Saunders
Aurland Lookout, image courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Todd Saunders
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 come out from the landscape and experience it from new standpoint.
We have managed to preserve 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.
Aurland Lookout, image courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Todd Saunders
Aurland Lookout - Site plan, drawing courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen
Aurland Lookout - Detailed plan, sections & detail, drawing courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen
+ Project credits / data
Project: Aurland Lookout
Client: Norwegian Transport Department
Location: Aurland, Norway (3 hours from Bergen)
Completed: November 2005
Architects: Todd Saunders (http://www.saunders.no) & Tommie Wilhelmsen (http://www.tommie-wilhelmsen.no/)
Structural: Node AS, Bergen
Mechanical: Node AS, Bergen
Electrical: Node AS, Bergen
Landscape: Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen
Interiors: Todd Saunders & Tommie Wilhelmsen
Contractor: Veidekke AS, Sogndal
Other specialist consultants: Asplan Viak, road engineers
Budget: 17 million Nkr
Photographer: Todd Saunders + Nils Vik
+ All images, drawings and description courtesy Todd Saunders + Tommie Wilhelmsen | Photo by Todd Saunders + Nils Vik
+ Some other view points featured on +MOOD
Trollstigen National Tourist Route Project | Reiulf Ramstad Architects
Bondi to Bronte Coast Walk Extension | ASPECT Studios