Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, AB

Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre

Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Åke Eson Lindman

FACTS TÅKERN VISITOR CENTRE

Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB

PHOTOGRAPHS
Christian Badenfelt, Åke Eson Lindman, Tord-Rickard Sîderstrîm

LOCATION
Glänås, Sweden

CATEGORY
Visitor Center

AREA
750.0 m2

YEAR
2008

Text description provided by architect.

All the way out where the forest ends and the reeds begin, a visitor center hovers low on piles set carefully into the water’s edge. The building is clad in thatch, camouflaged like a birdwatcher’s blind, hiding its contents from the natural world that surrounds it.

Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Christian Badenfelt
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Åke Eson Lindman

This is quiet architecture, using traditional local materials to break new ground with its crystalline geometry. Steep roofs transition seamlessly into walls. The steep pitch gives them longevity. The ridge, where a thatched roof is most vulnerable, is transformed into a glazed skylight.

The visitor center is the main feature of a series of measures that celebrate Tåkern’s qualities. The path to the building passes a number of landscape exhibits that reveal, for example, changes in the environment.

Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Tord-Rickard Sîderstrîm
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Åke Eson Lindman

A short distance away stands a bird-watching tower, designed as a sibling to the visitor station.

The whole scheme is interconnected by boardwalks that make the terrain accessible for all. A 140 meter long ramp makes it possible to reach the five meter level by wheels.

Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Åke Eson Lindman
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Åke Eson Lindman

Among the many exhibits is an aquarium that joins the interior of the visitor center with the pond that has been advantageously exposed next to the building. The center has a closed, sheltering form, resulting in minimal energy consumption. A few strategically placed generous openings connect the building with its surroundings.

The bird-watching tower was inaugurated in 2009. The opening was overlooked by shovelers, gadwalls, teals, pintails and by an old white-tailed eagle. Next year they will most likely return for a preview of the visitor centre.


Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Tord-Rickard Sîderstrîm
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
© Tord-Rickard Sîderstrîm


Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre


Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre


Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Section
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre


Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Site Plan
Facts Tåkern Visitor Centre
Plan

Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, AB
T +46 10­ 7881000 M +46 70 8101370
Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, AB
Kungsgatan 10A, 411 19 Göteborg, Sweden