Haukland Beach
Place
The site is Haukland beach, by Leknes in Western Lofoten in the North of Norway. Haukland beach is a small village with the houses adjacent to farmland. On the plot is a wonderful white beach, served by two parking spaces. There is a tunnel that connects Haukland beach with the nearby village Uttakleiv and former road that goes around the mountain called “the wall.” This road is a cultural monument and is used by locals and visitors for scenic walks.
The Task
The task was to design a service- and restaurant building and 120 parking spaces. The building will also contain storage for equipment rentals for outdoor activities, and public bathrooms that will be available around the clock. The number of visitors to the area varies throughout the year, and with the tourist buses from cruise ships it is estimated that up to 11,000 people visits the site in the month of July, in high season, and only 500 in November. It is therefore appropriate that the design of the building is compact and clear, so that it can be operated by one person in low season, and still have the capacity to serve larger groups in high season. There is also a potential to create a building that can be used as a gathering place for people in the immediate area, for social events such as confirmations and weddings. A large part of the task was to organize parking more efficiently than today, and be developed to receive larger amounts of visitors.
Project Principles
The strategy for relating to the context has been to establish a general geometric structure that encompasses roof construction, wall positioning and the placement of services. The building´s relationship to the surrounding landscape, such as the views to the beach and the mountains and the approach from the road, then determines how this structure is subdivided into spaces for dining, cooking, storing equipment, and so on. This way the building does not relate to nature through mimesis, but rather acts as an instrument or a measuring devise for its context. The surroundings are made apparent in the building in the way the underlying architectural structure has been appropriated for use.
We placed the project on top of a grass-covered embankment, presumably built up of sand, so that little nature of value will be lost in the project.
It is appropriate to restore the areas of the old beach parking lot back to nature. There is access to the beach is with a ramp from the parking and service building.
The Building
The building is organized by a 6.4 x 6.4 meter structural grid. This grid is divided diagonally to give a large face to the scenic fjord and mountains, resulting in the triangular form of the building. To account for the smaller components of the program, the grid is further subdivided into smaller units with non-structural walls. The roof is lifted 30 cm from the walls on steel connections, expressing the roof as its own heavy and hovering object. The floor and the walls have the same concrete mix with a bright aggregate.
The main room of our design, the dining space, is a bright room with views over the fjord and the mountains. The shear walls of the structure also partially divide the interior space and provide an opportunity to form more private situations. Still, there can be large gatherings such as weddings and confirmations taking place. All areas of the dining room has great views and lots of daylight.
Service functions, like kitchen, surf storage, restrooms and office, are places in a row closes to the parking area.
Construction
The roof is planned in concrete, as a rib cover with high concrete beams placed in a regular grid to highlight the main structure from inside the building. It is natural to use poured concrete to avoid visible joints and connections. When a beam dimension of 200x750 (incl. concrete slab in the ceiling) the concrete beams have sufficient capacity for loads and sufficient rigidity compared to avoid deformation. The secondary roof structure is a continuous concrete slab ranging from rib to rib. This construction principle ensures sheer action in the roof bracing.
The support for the roof consists of concrete walls. A symmetrical grid system is established to avoid unequal distribution of loads in the roof. It is therefore natural to base the grid formed by the main beams in the ceiling for placement of stable points. Due to large wind loads combined with large glass facades it is very important to establish a good system for stiffening, and it is natural here to use the inner walls of concrete stiffening discs.
The building will be constructed on a sand ground. Therefore a continuous bottom slab of concrete is used to ensure uniform stability.
Materials and Surfaces
Surfaces are in situ, polished concrete with white aggregate. The floors and walls have the same type of aggregate in the concrete, while the roof is lighter in color. In the service section of the building, some rooms have concrete slabs in the floor and tiles on the walls for easy cleaning. The exposed connections between the concrete beams in the ceiling and supporting/stiffening concrete walls is planned in painted steel.
Climate Skin
It is planned to use a facade system of deep, rectangular aluminum profiles with installed Protan plates. These vary between triple glass and perforated steel plates with insulation behind, depending on where one will have visibility in / out. The facades are attached to the outside of the concrete roof construction.
