*노르웨이, 고속도로 휴게소 솔버그 타워 [ Saunders Architecture ]Solberg Tower and Rest Area

바쁘게 살고 있는 우리에게 여유라는 것은
어디에서 찾을 수 있을까?
목적을 위한 동선을 최단거리로
계획하여 불필요함을 없애고
그만큼의 시간단축으로 경제적인 공간활용을 높인다.
너무나도 당연한 건축적 공식이다.
갑자기 더워진 날씨 때문인지
오늘은 한템포만 쉬어가자.

스웨덴에서 노르웨이로 관광을 올때 가장
처음 만나게 되는 솔버그 타워는
노르웨이가 가지고 있는 정서적 감성을 처음으로
낯선 이방인들에게 소개하고 느끼게 해준다.
조금은 긴 램프, 수직으로 한없이 높게 서 있는 전망대
드넓은 갈대숲, 이것들은 우리를
동적의 빠름보다는 왠지 시간조차 느리게
움직이게 될 것만 같은 공간으로 인도한다.

이와 같은 감성적 공간은

미니멀디자인 현대적인 기하학적 디자인으로

주변의 자연환경을 아우르며 감싸 안는다.

사실 미니멀한 건축형태는 로컬 농장의 전통적인 형태이기도 하다.

(건축적 디자인에서 사이트에 대한 정확한

해석과정을 통해서만 제대로된 로컬디자인이 나온다.

이것은 장소성과도 밀접한 관계가 있다.)

재료는 코르텡스틸강(내후성강판)과 오일스테인 우드를

믹스 매치하여 스트리트 퍼니쳐(인포메이션, 벤치, 전시부스)와

소음을 차단하고 관광객들의 안전한 보행을 위한 월, 그리고

바닥 페이빙에 사용함으로써 독특함과 편안함을

동시에 만들고 있다.

가장 하일라이트는 이곳지역의 풍부한 자연환경과

전통적 매력을 건축적 공간형성으로

유입시키고 그것을 훌륭히 표현하는 것이다.

정말 우리 고속도로 휴게소와는

많은 차이가 보인다.

비교하는 것 자체가 불가인가...?

reviewed by SJ

What can an architect do when he is given a blank canvas?  Wonders!  Solberg Tower and Rest Area by Saunders Architecture was approached in 2004 by the Norwegian Highway Department together with the Regional Government for a new project in Sarpsborg - a green, flat and calm piece of South Norway and a traditional stopover for travelers on the route to and from Sweden.  However, no one had predetermined the commission’s particular needs!  According to Saunders the project leaders were very well informed of his work, but in reality they had a vague idea of what program should be followed; in a way, the program was formulated by the architect as he came up with the program himself, it was very free, open to ideas and overall a very creative process!

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In order to identify the program and develop the most advantageous architectural program and design solution Saunders Architecture worked closely with the client.  Through thorough study of the site, careful attention being paid to the given parameters, and with an aim to identify the challenges and the advantages in order to define the given problems and the opportunities Saunders Architecture came about with the program - a ‘green’ resting place.  Among the disadvantages and problems of the given site was the highway’s speed and the noise which would enhance the traveler’s need for a break, so that they could reconnect with nature and get a first taste of Norway.  Sarpsborg is of the first districts that a traveler encounters once they enter Norway from Sweden.  It was of outmost importance that the traveler and his family or friends would be able to slow down, stop by, and spend some high-quality time discovering the Norwegian countryside; the local forest and coastline form a attractive, yet largely unknown part of the country.  The reconnection was achieved with the architectural design of the ‘green’ resting space, which was the most favorable program given the existing situation.

In order to isolate the ‘green’ resting area from the highway speed and noise, a low walled ramp was constructed which spirals around the rest area; the low walled ramp encloses a 2,000 square meter area, and defines the borders of the site.  Spring-flowering fruit trees adorn the courtyard, while seven small pavilions showcase information of the local rock carvings from the Bronze Age, an exhibition which continues on the ramp’s walls.  The seven small pavilions were designed by Saunders Architecture while graphic designer Camilla Holcroft fashioned the graphics.  According to Saunders, the adjacent forest is bursting of rock carvings but no one is familiar about their existence as everyone just drives through trying to get to Oslo.  Furthermore, the seven pavilions can be alternatively used for temporary artist exhibitions.

Incorporated to the program and the existing seven pavilions is a 30-meter simple nine-storey look-out tower.  The uniformity and the evenness of the landscape predetermined the design of the look-out tower, as the beauty of the surrounding landscape and the magnificent Norwegian countryside could not be enjoyed unless it was given a certain height.  Therefore, the development of the tower was quickly incorporated as one of the main elements of the brief.  The ramp’s asymmetrical walls rise from 0 – 4 meters and then form the 30 meter simple nine–storey-tall structure on the site’s northern edge, including only a staircase and an elevator. The look-out tower was named Solberg – translating to ‘Sun Mountain’ – the tower’s aerial views towards the close by shoreline and the Oslo fjord are beyond doubt thespian.

The overall design scheme was shaped in relation to the environs’ existing architecture; geometrical contemporary shapes, with minimal design were selected, contrasting the local farming villages’ more traditional forms.  Materials such as the attractively-ageing CorTen steel for the exterior walls and warm oiled hard wood for the courtyard’s design elements and information points, local slate and fine gravel pave the ground level.  Highlighting the area’s abundant natural and historical attractions, sustained by strong architectural forms, Saunders Architecture formed a multifaceted, in direct response to both the clients’ and site’s requirements.  The teamwork, the formation and the identification of the program and the cooperation between several municipalities, the regional government and the national highways department, led to the successful completion of Sarpsborg.

from  yatzer