{"id":71,"date":"2025-03-14T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/2025\/03\/14\/utsikten-tower\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T13:19:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T13:19:23","slug":"utsikten-tower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/utsikten-tower\/","title":{"rendered":"Utsikten Tower"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A viewing tower for walkers on the mountain plateau.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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Location<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hardangervidda, Norway<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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Completed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2024<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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Area<\/p>\n\n\n\n

22 m\u00b2<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Type<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewing tower<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Client<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vidda Trail Association<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Photography<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kari Helland<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The site<\/h2>\n\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\n

The tower stands on a low rise above the old trail between two mountain huts, where the plateau opens in every direction and there is no shelter from the weather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ground is thin moss over bedrock, wet through the summer and frozen for the rest of the year. We set the tower on four steel screw piles so the moor around it could stay untouched, and turned the base so the door faces away from the westerly wind.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
\n
\"A<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\"A
Section model with the inner stair<\/figcaption><\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
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The building<\/h2>\n\n<\/div>\n\n
\n\n

A square shaft of charred spruce, eleven metres tall, with a stair winding up the inside walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walkers climb in near darkness, with light falling only through the gaps between the boards, until the stair arrives at one angled glazed opening that frames the distant line of the glacier. The charred cladding needs no treatment and will grey slowly in the wind. Every part was flown in by helicopter, in pieces two people could lift.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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People used to walk straight past this rise. Now they stop, climb and stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gunnar Moen, trail warden<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Materials<\/h2>\n\n<\/div>\n\n
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Cladding<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charred spruce, left untreated<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

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Structure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glulam frame on steel screw piles<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Stair<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pine treads on steel stringers<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Opening<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One angled pane in an oak frame<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n
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Credits<\/h2>\n\n<\/div>\n\n
\n
\n
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Architects<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eirik Fjellheim, Jun Sato<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Engineer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fjellstad Konstruksjon, Bergen<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

\n\n

Builder<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eidfjord Tre og Bygg, Eidfjord<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hardangervidda, 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-project","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public","category-work"],"_flatsome_builder_edit_link":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/wp-admin\/index.php?page=flatsome-builder&postType=post&postId=71","_flatsome_builder_post_lock":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":227,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71\/revisions\/227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/10"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patterns.flatsome.com\/architecture\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}