After the Wadden Sea Center in Denmark and the Trilateral Wadden Sea World Heritage Partnership Center in Germany, the Wadden Sea World Heritage Center marks Dorte Mandrup’s third project in this unique environment. Created as a spiraling movement upwards and around, rising from the harbor, the Wadden Sea World Heritage Center is a “working field station that wants to engage visitors and aims at making them active participants”.
Located in the small Dutch fishing village of Lauwersoog, between the Wadden Sea and the Lauwersmeer National Park, in a flat horizon dominated by land and water and home to more than 10.000 species of plants and animals, the project creates an endless panoramic view and experience of the UNESCO protected coastal wetlands. Not an ordinary museum, the Wadden Sea World Heritage Center is a working field station. Strengthening people’s awareness through active involvement, “the building will provide spaces for students and researchers to study the ecosystem and wildlife of the Wadden Sea”.
The new Wadden Sea World Heritage Center pays homage to the historic maritime activity in Lauwersoog. At the same time, it presents a contemporary expression that enriches the diversity of the buildings in the area. Drawing inspiration from the endless cycle of the tide, the gradual spiral-like incline – like the continuous rising and falling of the water surface – offers a stunning 360-degree view of the sea, the Lauwersmeer, and the surrounding landscape as visitors ascend through the building. It almost gives you the feeling of being one with the sea. -- Dorte Mandrup.
Expected to be completed in 2022, the intervention was designed by Dorte Mandrup in collaboration with ABT Wassenaar, DGMR, Lüning, DAAD Architecten, and LAOS Landschapts Architectuur. Visitors of the Wadden Sea World Heritage Center are welcomed by a large south-facing stair and ramp leading to the main entrance. Once inside, they “enter the Reception Hall and move gradually upward through the building”.
On the 2nd floor, the exhibition culminates with an impressive view into the underwater world of the rescued seals in the large show pools; and on the roof, visitors will have the opportunity to see the pools from above, and meet the seals up close. In addition, outdoor dammed basins will work as an aquatic research base and recreational area, bringing people closer to the rich biodiversity of the Wadden Sea. Using Wood as a primary material, the project creates a carefully adjusted façade, reminiscent of the historic maritime activity, revealing the inside action.
News via Dorte Mandrup.
- Name: Wadden Sea World Heritage Center, Netherlands
- Type: Culture & Landmarks / Education & Workspace
- Client: Stichting Werelderfgoedcentrum Waddenzee
- Partners: ABC Nova/ ABT Wassenaar/ DGMR/ Lüning/ DAAD Architecten/ LAOS Landschapts Architectuur
- Address: Haven 6, 9976 VN Lauwersoog, Netherlands
- Renderings: Dorte Mandrup A/S
- Status: Expected 2022
