Perched high in the Norwegian mountains, the visitor facility designed by Reiulf Ramstad Architects sets zig zagging pathways that lead to viewing platforms, & cantilever at points over icy waterways. An angled concrete block at the entrance to the site contains waterside restaurant and gallery, while Corten steel pavilions are set in the ground alongside. From here a footpath crosses the mountain river and leads to the lookout points, which are made of concrete, steel and glass.

The facility, which opened last month, is one of five architectural projects along the Geiranger-Trollstigen tourist route, a 66-mile scenic road across the Trollstigen Mountain Plateau in western Norway.  Trollstigen – or “troll’s ladder” – is regarded as one of Norway’s most spectacularly beautiful areas and the tourist route across it is one of the country’s most popular attractions.

At the foot of the wall is a jagged glass restaurant, which Reiulf Ramstad Architects completed last summer.  See also our recent story about the architects’ beachside walkway on the Havøysund trail, which is another of the 18 national tourist routes in Norway. Stops on some of the other tourist routes that are previously documented HERE - public toilets in a rusty steel cabin and a memorial commemorating suspected witches.


Photography is by the architects, apart from where otherwise stated.

Second from top, and images below (c) diephotodesignerfrom Reiulf Ramstad Architects:

VIA DEZEEN

Trollstigen National Tourist Route Project / FROM THE ARCHITECTS :

Located on Norway’s west coast, Trollstigen is perched within a dramatic pass between the deep fjords that characterize the region.  Despite—or perhaps because of—the inaccessible nature of the site, the project entails designing an entire visitor environment ranging from a mountain lodge with restaurant and gallery to flood barriers, water cascades, bridges, and paths to outdoor furniture and pavilions and platforms meant for viewing the scenery.

This panoramic site can only be visited and constructed in summer, due to severe winter weather. 

All of these elements are molded into the landscape so that the visitor’s experience of place seems even more intimate.  

The architectural intervention is respectfully delicate, and was conceived as a thin thread that guides visitors from one stunning overlook to another.  The RRA project will enhance the experience of the Trollstigen plateau’s location and nature. 

Thoughtfulness regarding features and materials will underscore the site’s temper and character, and well-adapted, functional facilities will augment the visitor’s experience.

The architecture is to be characterised by clear and precise transitions between planned zones and the natural landscape.Through the notion of water as a dynamic element – from snow, to running and then falling water- and rock as a static element, the project creates a series of prepositional relations that describe and magnify the unique spatiality of the site.Location: Romsdalen – Geiranger Fjord, Norway

Program: National tourist routes project
Client: The Norwegian public roads administration
Commision type: Invited Competition 1st prize in cooperation with Multiconsult 13.3 landscaping (2004)Architects: Reiulf Ramstad Architects, Oslo Norway (RRA)
Reiulf Ramstad, Christian Skram Fuglset, Espen Surnevik, Anja Strandskogen, Nok Nimakorn,
Atle Leira, (Christian Dahle, Lasse Halvorsen, Helge Lunder, Karen Selmer, Tia Ginard Adover)

Civil Engineer: Structural Engineer: Dr Techn. Kristoffer Apeland AS, Oslo Norway
Design year: 2004-2011
Construction year: 2005-2012/ Official Opening 2012