The project is a proposal for Skagen Odde Visitor Centre. Skagen Odde, described by many as a top of Denmark, is a place associated with one of the most precious and unique natural heritage sites in the whole country. Being visited by millions of tourists every year, Skagen Odde still misses proper facilities that could help the visitors to better understand and experience the place. Our main objective when designing a visitor centre is to improve the way of visiting Skagen Odde by facilitating access to the whole area for tourists. At the same time we would also like to improve the protection of natural landscape and influence visitors’ apprehension of the place.
Two directional building
While the main shape of the building follows Skagen-Grenen direction at the same time it should also be well integrated with local surrounding and open up towards the landscape and sea which is on the south-east side of the building. We do not want the building to obscure the view of the water from the road. We mixed this idea with the long shape of the building and its position half way from Skagen to Grenen and proposed a visitor centre that could work in both directions. People could first go through the building toward Grenen and gather information about natural values of the land later continuing the trip towards Grenen. After sightseeing they could return to the building and continue the journey through the exhibition about culture & art. In this sense the building becomes a part of a longer journey through the whole Skagen Odde.
While the main shape of the building follows Skagen-Grenen direction at the same time it should also be well integrated with local surrounding and open up towards the landscape and sea which is on the south-east side of the building. We do not want the building to obscure the view of the water from the road. We mixed this idea with the long shape of the building and its position half way from Skagen to Grenen and proposed a visitor centre that could work in both directions. People could first go through the building toward Grenen and gather information about natural values of the land later continuing the trip towards Grenen. After sightseeing they could return to the building and continue the journey through the exhibition about culture & art. In this sense the building becomes a part of a longer journey through the whole Skagen Odde.
A structure that creates a gradient
The envisioned structure of the building is the arrangement of repetitive frames working in both mentioned directions. The perception of the space depends on the human perspective. While approaching the building from either Skagen town or Grenen area, the visitor can see a closed, massive shape - that is being created by the repetitive structural elements. But as soon as he gets closer, the perspective makes the frames more opened and transparent. The building starts to reveal the surroundings and the views through the building. This relation adds a dynamic aspect to the perception of the building. It is constantly changing giving the visitor different spatial experiences.
