‘The restaurant façade is with birch trunks to connect with nature. The snow lay on these tribes, so that the facade falls very naturally into its surroundings. The restaurant is inspired of a traditional Sami tent and it seemed natural that it should be circular, because it offers good views to all sides’, says architect Ulla Alberts.
Architect:
Photographer:
Building company:
Client/investor:
Location:
Country:
Awards:
Year of completion: Area: |
Ulla Alberts and Hans Murman,
Murman arkitekter AB
Lindman Photography
Öhmans Bygg AB
Ramundsberget Alpina AB,
Anders Östring
Ramundsberget, Härjedalsfjälle
Sweden
Winner of the category ‘Holiday’
at the World Architecture Festival
(Barcelona, 2009)
2009
340 m2, 125 guests |
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‘The restaurant façade is with birch trunks to connect with nature. The snow lay on these tribes, so that the facade falls very naturally into its surroundings. The restaurant is inspired of a traditional Sami tent and it seemed natural that it should be circular, because it offers good views to all sides’, says architect Ulla Alberts.
Architect:
Photographer:
Building company:
Client/investor:
Location:
Country:
Awards:
Year of completion: Area: |
Ulla Alberts and Hans Murman,
Murman arkitekter AB
Lindman Photography
Öhmans Bygg AB
Ramundsberget Alpina AB,
Anders Östring
Ramundsberget, Härjedalsfjälle
Sweden
Winner of the category ‘Holiday’
at the World Architecture Festival
(Barcelona, 2009)
2009
340 m2, 125 guests |
| |
| Location and building process
‘Restaurant Tusen’ is a ski restaurant situated on a small hill in the area ‘Ramundsberget’ (the valley ‘Härrjedalsfjällen’), in the region Jämtland of the Mid Western part of Sweden. The tepee-shaped building gazes over the mountain terrain as far as the eye can see, or more precisely where the upper tree line meets the mountains. Trees cannot grow above this level (1000 meters high). The surrounding mountains are quite untouched, and from this site you have a wide view over well-known mountains in Sweden as Helags and Skars - midway between Solliften and Osthang - with easy access to the ski slopes.
Since the building is very discretely situated it perfectly benefits its exposed surroundings. With a look that is almost tribal or ‘fairytale Nordic’ in its design, the restaurant is placed in solitude still obvious visible from a distance with an inviting entrance area to the south. Welcoming a sunny day as well as in a gloomy winter day around one of the fireplaces inside.
Between slow-growing birch trees, brooks and rocks the location itself emphasizes the building’s relation to nature in summer as well in the wintertime, a location easily accessible all year but chosen with care. It is also a ultramodern example of architecture in the wild: The restaurant is located in a ski area so remote that it is only possible to get there on skis or on foot Its circular form affords a 360 degree views, whilst the nature of it’s exterior allows for snow to rest on it’s façade, creating a camouflaged appearance, allowing it to blend seamlessly into the scenery with nature.
From the beginning the concept of the architecture company was building a restaurant that would balance well with the mountain landscape character, both in form and materials. It should offer visitors a unique experience of the fantastic views in an environment with a special atmosphere. The hope was that the interior of the building would contain both intimacy and space, and work equally well on a windy winter’s day as well as a sunny spring day. ’In this unique and sensitive context at the mountaintop of ‘Ramundsberget’ we wanted a building in harmony with the nature, all year around, day and night. The overall concept was therefore to design a building that would blend in with the landscape’s character in shape, design and choice of materials.
In order to design the restaurant as good as possible, the architect office employees skied in the area in winter and hiked during the summer, so they could get an impression of the placement of the site in the nature. Furthermore it has been a clear goal to make the area more attractive for tourists, skiers in the winter and hikers during the summertime’, explains architect Hans Murman.
Building on such a beautiful, yet difficult place caused a lot of problems to solve: A temporary way was made to transport building materials to the building site during summertime, and in wintertime a rebuilt snow groomer machine was used for transportation. The construction period between June 2008 and January 2009 forced the architects to use prefabricated elements of timber transported up on the mountain by trucks and pist-machines.
Function, daylight and interior
The building basically consists of 2 floors: The ground floor, which actually is a kind of mezzanine level, leads to a lower level where the main dining area, kitchen and serving area are placed. From this lower level the restaurant opens up to a small, protected outdoor terrace, which is accessible from the Southwestern part of the restaurant. The upper/mezzanine floor contains the entrance with a small dining spacing, a technician room, a customer toilet and the staff’s staircase. ‘We have chosen to create an eternity. The color scheme of the interior is simple, black-brown and grey-white has been used as the main colors overall with an orange-yellow as complementary color palette’. Whereas black and white can work as background for the somehow colorful skiers, the orange-yellow color symbolizes fire and warmth. Our hope is, that the interior will provide intimacy, space and rhythm and offers a magnificent view over the peaks around’, tells architect Ulla Albert. On the inside the elements joints and walls are covered by birch plywood and birch bark. The floor is covered with soundproofing carpet. The traditional VELUX roof window, has been used as façade element, and all these windows are placed in a staggered grid or pattern in the Northern façade. This design choice provides not just a splendid outlook but also a bright and airy atmosphere to the restaurant. The special Nordic light finds its way through the VELUX roofwindows like the sun between the branches on trees. All windows connect to the double/ or triple-high dining area. EcologyA challenge at ‘Restaurant Tusen’ was the water and drain. It would be too expensive if the wastewater should be transported down to the nearest village, so the construction team designed a separate installation at the building that brought the clean water to the restaurant by a pipeline specially made for the restaurant. Afterwards the water is being cleaned sent back to nature – it ‘disappears’ in its own sewage treatment, a biological mini-purifying plant. Heating of the restaurant also comes from geothermal mountain heating. In many ways the building had to work on nature’s terms. You can say in this case nature rules and determines the architecture. In every project Murman architects strives to create architecture that will become a part of the Swedish landscape. It also indicates the Murman’s dedication to modernity: At the same time the form, which is based on the traditional use of timber tree trunks in a triangular shape, links this project to the architectural history of especially this part of Sweden with the Sami culture close by. ‘We have chosen to create an eternity. The color scheme of the interior is simple, black-brown and grey-white has been used as the main colors overall with an orange-yellow as complementary color palette’. Whereas black and white can work as background for the somehow colorful skiers, the orange-yellow color symbolizes fire and warmth. Our hope is, that the interior will provide intimacy, space and rhythm and offers a magnificent view over the peaks around’, tells architect Ulla Albert. On the inside the elements joints and walls are covered by birch plywood and birch bark. The floor is covered with soundproofing carpet. The traditional VELUX roof window, has been used as façade element, and all these windows are placed in a staggered grid or pattern in the Northern façade. This design choice provides not just a splendid outlook but also a bright and airy atmosphere to the restaurant. The special Nordic light finds its way through the VELUX roofwindows like the sun between the branches on trees. All windows connect to the double/ or triple-high dining area. EcologyA challenge at ‘Restaurant Tusen’ was the water and drain. It would be too expensive if the wastewater should be transported down to the nearest village, so the construction team designed a separate installation at the building that brought the clean water to the restaurant by a pipeline specially made for the restaurant. Afterwards the water is being cleaned sent back to nature – it ‘disappears’ in its own sewage treatment, a biological mini-purifying plant. Heating of the restaurant also comes from geothermal mountain heating. In many ways the building had to work on nature’s terms. You can say in this case nature rules and determines the architecture. In every project Murman architects strives to create architecture that will become a part of the Swedish landscape. It also indicates the Murman’s dedication to modernity: At the same time the form, which is based on the traditional use of timber tree trunks in a triangular shape, links this project to the architectural history of especially this part of Sweden with the Sami culture close by. ‘We have chosen to create an eternity. The color scheme of the interior is simple, black-brown and grey-white has been used as the main colors overall with an orange-yellow as complementary color palette’. Whereas black and white can work as background for the somehow colorful skiers, the orange-yellow color symbolizes fire and warmth. Our hope is, that the interior will provide intimacy, space and rhythm and offers a magnificent view over the peaks around’, tells architect Ulla Albert. On the inside the elements joints and walls are covered by birch plywood and birch bark. The floor is covered with soundproofing carpet. The traditional VELUX roof window, has been used as façade element, and all these windows are placed in a staggered grid or pattern in the Northern façade. This design choice provides not just a splendid outlook but also a bright and airy atmosphere to the restaurant. The special Nordic light finds its way through the VELUX roofwindows like the sun between the branches on trees. All windows connect to the double/ or triple-high dining area. EcologyA challenge at ‘Restaurant Tusen’ was the water and drain. It would be too expensive if the wastewater should be transported down to the nearest village, so the construction team designed a separate installation at the building that brought the clean water to the restaurant by a pipeline specially made for the restaurant. Afterwards the water is being cleaned sent back to nature – it ‘disappears’ in its own sewage treatment, a biological mini-purifying plant. Heating of the restaurant also comes from geothermal mountain heating. In many ways the building had to work on nature’s terms. You can say in this case nature rules and determines the architecture. In every project Murman architects strives to create architecture that will become a part of the Swedish landscape. It also indicates the Murman’s dedication to modernity: At the same time the form, which is based on the traditional use of timber tree trunks in a triangular shape, links this project to the architectural history of especially this part of Sweden with the Sami culture close by.
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