Hasta La Ideas

The latest architectural addition to Norway’s scenic tourist routes is a rest area featuring a toilet facility that sweeps upwards from a poured-concrete viewing terrace.

Oslo-based studio Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter (HZA) designed the Ureddplassen rest area for a site along the Helgelandskysten Norwegian Scenic Route in the northern region of Gildeskål.

Ureddplassen is popular with tourists and local residents as it provides a beautiful spot to observe the northern lights in winter, and the midnight sun in summer.

The entire space has been updated to create a better experience for travellers heading north on the coastal road.

The terrace comprises a cast-concrete slab that follows the edge of the curving terrain and separates the freshly re-laid asphalt car park from the adjacent pebble beach.

A series of prefabricated concrete steps forms an amphitheatre that extends down from the terrace to the shoreline. The steps are staggered in places to create seating platforms looking out across the water.

“The view from the steps is unique and there is ample seating well protected from traffic noise,” said Steinar Skaar, route manager of Norwegian Scenic Route Helgelandskysten.

The lay-by also features a memorial erected in memory to the 42 crew members who lost their lives when the submarine Uredd was sunk during the second world war.

As part of the project, the memorial was moved to a better location and given a new base made from local Fauske marble. The same stone is used to create monolithic benches with rounded edges that are scattered along the fringe of the new terrace.

At the opposite end of the terrace from the Uredd memorial, the concrete surface appears to have been sliced and pulled up to form a roof of an accessible toilet.

The wave-like form creates a covered entrance outside the toilet, which is lined with translucent glazing so it glows like a beacon when illuminated from within.

The complex forms achieved with poured concrete lend the project a sense of consistency and a topographic quality that complements the rugged surrounding terrain.

“The concrete works in connection with the building and the amphitheatre have been complicated, but we are very satisfied with the results,” Skaar added.

“Together with the local contractor, we have succeeded in emphasising the qualities that the architect and the landscape architect intended.”

Norway’s 18 scenic routes are known for their outstanding scenery, and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration commissions leading architects to create attractions and facilities along the roads.

Previous projects have included a cluster of buildings supported by slender stilts that Peter Zumthor designed for a historic mine, and a toilet block near a popular waterfall with a glazed floor panel that looks down onto a river.

Photography is by Lars Grimsby unless stated otherwise.

Projects credits

Client:  Statens Veivesen, Norwegian Scenic Route
Landscape: Landskapsfabrikken
Engineer: K. Apeland
Team:  Tora Arctander, Marit Justine Haugen, Dan Zohar

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I, like many people, fell in love with the concept of multi-functionality long before I knew what it really was thanks to a little 1980s cartoon called Inspector Gadget! The weird and wacky detective had all sorts of multipurpose tools at his disposal and I imagine if he had a wallet, it’d be a lot like this one! It’s called CLIPPY and it’s perhaps the most versatile and useful wallet out there.

This pocket-size, magnetic, multi-tool can be used for a variety of handy functions like keeping your headphone cables in order, marking your book, acting as a paperclip, and even as a fidget device! Of course, it also keeps your cards and cash clipped and organized. Available in any imaginable Pantone color, you can customize yours to your precise style preference!

Designer: Ivan Shmatko for aiia

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(PG-13: content) Bill Hader and the SNL cast members hilariously struggle to stay in character in this sketch about a woman bringing along her elderly husband to a game night with her friends…(Read…)

“Don’t hurt the boulders” was the request from the client who asked Faulkner Architects to design this remote getaway on a rocky site in California.

The AIDS research scientist lives in New York City but desired a place to escape to. After finding a site on rough terrain leading down to a ravine in Truckee, near Lake Tahoe, they turned to locally based Faulkner Architects.

Respect for the untouched natural setting was a priority from the outset, so the firm designed the residence over or around all of the largest boulders dotted around the plot.

“The house was built around and in deference to every rock,” said Faulkner Architects. “The house cantilevers over several boulders; there’s a feeling of it not even touching the site,” they added.

The low-slung Creek House is clad in concrete, wood, and dark panels – a sober palette that allows it to blend into its context.

The main entrance is from the north, where a massive wall runs from north-east to south-west. This provides privacy for the client, but also helps shade the interiors from the summer sunlight, which can be harsh.

“Densely packed public areas lead to wide-open private spaces,” said the architects, describing the programme as “a reversal of the usual, where the private spaces are smaller and more enclosed.”

An open-plan kitchen, living, and dining room occupies the centre of the home and overlooks the ravine below. A corridor follows the main concrete wall, leading to private quarters at either end of the longitudinal home.

In addition to the two full bedrooms, a partial lower level contains a meditation space that can be used as a sleeping area when required. Above the main volume of the house, a single room serves as a home office, but also acts as a clerestory window to bring light and air into the centre of the building.

Faulkner Architects wanted to avoid a top-down approach to the design, and engaged with the client’s family throughout the process.

“All of it creates ultimately contemplative architecture, ideal for a sprawling multi-generational family, each member of which contributed input – ranging from cultural significant geometry to finishes and tonal qualities – to the project,” the studio said.

The interiors of the residence were finished in muted tones, in deference to the project’s natural context. Concrete, steel, and wood feature prominently, with expansive windows throughout.

“Steel and rift-sawn oak create shadows that contrast to naturally-illuminated concrete, bluestone, and white gypsum walls,” said the architects.

Small rock gardens outside the home and occasional glass floors over the boulders are reminders of the client’s initial intention to leave the site undisturbed.

Faulkner Architects has completed two other projects in Northern California: a family residence clad in weathering steel and a spacious dwelling in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Photography is by Joe Fletcher Photography.

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