Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter: Trollstigen Visitor Centre, Romsdalen - Geiranger fjord, Norway

RRA

Located on Norway’s west coast, the Trollstigen Visitor Centre is in a pass between two deep fjords. The site can only be visited in summer due to severe winter weather. Despite – or perhaps because of – the inaccessible nature of the site, the project became an entire visitor environment from a mountain lodge with restaurant and gallery to flood barriers, water cascades, bridges, paths to outdoor furniture, pavilions and viewing platforms. These elements are folded into the landscape so that the visitor’s experience of place is very intimate.  The architectural intervention is respectfully delicate, conceived as a thin thread that guides visitors from one stunning overlook to another.

The architecture is characterised by clear and precise transitions between planned zones and the natural landscape. Using water as a dynamic element – from snow, to running and then falling water with rock as a static element, the project creates a series of prepositional relations that describe and magnify the unique spatiality of the site.

The Trollstigen plateau is a robust facility, dimensioned for durability with minimal maintenance and large static stresses. The contrast between the seasons (up to seven metres of snow in the winter) is handled by the choice of materials. Structures and details are designed to withstand extreme stress without compromising visual slenderness. Working with resistance felt natural; cast-in-place concrete and cor-ten steel are the main materials. The steel oxidises, developing its own patina over time; the concrete has received several different techniques: polished, steel-trowelled, flushed, broomed, spot-hammered and cast in different types of formwork. With the nuances each treatment gives the material, it is possible to address each micro-context in relation to use and placement. All the materials are carefully chosen to show a clear and precise transition between the architecture and the natural landscape.

diephotodesigner.de

There are always some difficulties in the construction of an installation like this. Because of the extreme weather conditions and the difficulties of access for construction equipment, most of the material was transported by helicopter to the outlook plateau. However, for us as architects it was always the structural challenge to do a structure robust enough to look after the safety of the public, and at the same time appear simple and elegant.

Sustainability of the project is an important factor.  There is durability in all details – the architectural installations have been built to withstand the violent forces of nature. In summer, autumn and spring, major floods cause extensive damage. The amount of snow in the winter months is so large that extraordinary static solid solutions are required. Since the project consists of a number of individual measures, it is organised into a system of sub-site development. As part of the mandate for sustainability, all grey water is filtered locally at the site through a series of sand reservoirs. Black water is reduced using vacuum sanitary systems. Trollstigen is energy self-sufficient through a local mini-hydro power plant which is a part of the project, and the project uses low energy infrastructure throughout.

The Trollstigen plateau is a very comprehensive architectural project, both in program, complexity and extent. It covers an area of approximately 600,000 m2 that from one end to the other takes about twenty minutes of continuous walking. At the same time the complex is staged to receive a lot of people in a short time. Around 600,000 people distributed in 100,000 vehicles visit the site during the summer months. This lays down large demands of infrastructure and logistics.  

diephotodesigner.de 

Location: Rauma – Møre og Romsdal, Norway
Program: National tourist routes project
Client: The Norwegian public roads administration
Commission type: Invited competition (1st prize) in cooperation with Multiconsult 13.3 landscaping (2004)
 

Architects: Reiulf Ramstad Architects (RRA), Oslo, Norway.
RRA Key Architects:
Reiulf D Ramstad - responsible project manager
Christian Skram Fuglset - project manager
RRA team involved in the process:
Kristin Stokke Ramstad, project communication
Anja Hole Strandskogen RRA architect
Ragnhild Snustad, RRA architect
Kanog Anong Nimakorn, RRA architect
Espen Surnevik (former RRA architect)
Atle Leira (former RRA architect)
Christian Dahle (former RRA architect)
Lasse A. Halvorsen (former RRA architect)

Structural Engineer: Dr Techn. Kristoffer Apeland AS, Oslo Norway
Design: 2004-2011
Construction: 2005-2012, official opening 2012
Photographs: RRA, Diephotodesigner.de
Renderings: Reiulf Ramstad Architects/MIR
Building area:     800 m2     Visitor Centre: restaurant and gallery
        950 m2     Flood Barrier Structure
Site:         200,000 m2

www.reiulframstadarchitects.com