This snaking concrete structure by Norwegian studio Reiulf Ramstad Architects winds down from a road to the beach along the edge of the Arctic Ocean.
Benches wrap around the curved walls, while the floor slopes down gradually to allow easy access to the water for wheelchair users as well as those on foot.
Circular openings of different sizes pierce the concrete walls.
Last year Reiulf Ramstad Architects completed a glass restaurant with jagged edges - see it here.
The Havøysund Tourist Route is one of 18 national tourist routes in Norway. See a couple of other stories about the routes here »
Here's some explanation from Reiulf Ramstad Architects:
Havøysund Tourist Route Project
The objective is quite simply to single out and magnify the experience of walking from the roadside down to the seaside at this very special place.
Therefore a chief concern was to slow down this movement and make the path itself a means of refocusing the experiential mode: a measured, restrained approach that creates awareness.
The primary functional concern was universal accessibility. Instead of opting for a dual solution with staircase and ramp, we came up with the notion of making the ramp the common entryway and develop it into the integral character of the project.
Because of the inclination of the site, and in order to create the reductive motion, the ramp had to be very long.
The winding river of the path prolongs the approach and in so doing opens up new perspectives and experiences for the visitor.
Located in the extreme north of Norway, in a landscape almost lunar in its barren and inhospitable beauty, the facility should ideally be completely self-sustainable in terms of power input and waste output.
The general notion was to create a human detail in the vastness of the landscape that is as timeless as the landscape itself and that brings attention to the relationship between the duration of experiences and the hugeness of the spatial circumstance.
Location: Havøysund, Finnmark Norway
Program: Development and Design National Touristroutes Havøysund
Client: Norwegian public roads administration
Architect: Reiulf Ramstad Architects: Reiulf Ramstad, Anja Strandskogen, Kanog Anong Nimakorn, (Kathrine Næss)
Commision type: Direct Commission (2007),
