Code Architecture, AS

Utsikten Viewpoint

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

UTSIKTEN VIEWPOINT

CODE: arkitektur

ARCHITECTS
CODE: arkitektur

MANUFACTURERS
Nordfjord Betong, PV panels, Sunnfjord Betong, Sunnfjord Industri

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
B- Consult

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
DIFK

PROJECT YEAR
2016

AREA
850.0 sqm

LOCATION
Norway

CATEGORY
Installations & Structures

Text description provided by architect.

The site is known as Utsikten (“The View”) and is a natural place to stop when driving over the Gaular mountain along the western coast of Norway.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

For those who have made the trek over the mountain itself, the site affords a sudden and surprising vista overlooking a majestic landscape.

Conversely, for those driving up from below, Utsikten constitutes the ever visible apex of the ascent rising up through a series of hairpin bends.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

CODE’s project at Utsikten is a large, triangular concrete platform situated right at the side of the road.

The platform is 80 cm thick but appears to rest lightly atop the terrain with raised, wing-like corners that protrude outwards and upwards into the air.

Utsikten Viewpoint
Courtesy of CODE: arkitektur
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

Similar to how a picnic blanket is neatly arranged in order to create the proper setting for a meal, the concrete platform at Utsikten has been developed to create the proper setting for the entire stopover.

The cars drive all the way up to the outlook, and visitors can move around between the corners to experience the spectacular scenery from various angles.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

In order to ensure the optimal placement for the finished project and exploit the site’s various qualities, the architects sketched the concept at full scale at the site itself.

With the aid of a crane and ropes, the structure was constructed as a wire model over several rounds before finally being transferred into a 3D model, drawings, and the finished product.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
Courtesy of CODE: arkitektur

The work on the concrete construction proved to be quite challenging because of the mountain’s location, the complex geometry, and the high demands to quality.

In order to be as prepared as possible, the various actors involved in the construction project first participated in a trial construction of large sections of the platform in order to make common experiences and quality assure the given choices and approaches.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

The finished platform appears as an independent, geometric, and precise object in the landscape.The materials and technology are familiar and robust, while it is the shape itself that is spectacular.

Over time the concrete will acquire natural vegetation and its colour will approximate that of the surrounding mountainsides.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran

The rails have been made from thick steel pipes as a visually conspicuous seam along the platform’s edges and reliefs, with outstretched nets that are more or less transparent.

The concrete includes surfaces that have been milled, honed, sandblasted or board-sheathed in order to accentuate the platform’s shape and zonal divisions.

The raised corners contain holes and reliefs that provide sitting and standing room, access to the restrooms, and egresses to the terrain, or that serve as an outlet for the rainwater amassed at the platform. During rainy weather it is also possible to seek shelter beneath these corners.

Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran


Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran
Utsikten Viewpoint
© Jiri Havran


Utsikten Viewpoint
Section
Utsikten Viewpoint
Axonometric
Utsikten Viewpoint
Axonometric
Utsikten Viewpoint
Axonometric


Utsikten Viewpoint
Floor plan
Utsikten Viewpoint
Floor plan
Utsikten Viewpoint
Site plan

Code Architecture, AS
T +47 22 057680 M +47 996 21810
Code Architecture, AS
Akersgata 16, 0158 Oslo, Norway