Hardangerfjord, Norway
Kvorning Design has created a new floating visitor’s center for Eide Fjordbruk in Hardangerfjord, Norway to look like a fish’s eye, exceptionally a salmon’s, and it will only be visible from a bird’s eye view.
Ironically, the only way to reach this unique exhibit is by boat.
The pavilion is called “Salmon Eye,” which aims to raise worldwide awareness of the consequences of present salmon farming methods.
Marketex Marine, a subsidiary within the BLRT Grupp family, is constructing a unique floating exhibition center commissioned by Fluctus in Norway.
Salmon Eye will be placed in the spectacular Hardangerfjord visited by thousands of tourists every year.
This new tourist attraction will only be accessible by water, introducing visitors to the important topic of food production in the sea and be an important arena for inspiration about the potential under the surface.
The exhibition center will be 26 m long and wide and 15 m high. The total weight – ca 1000 tonnes.
The structure is to be covered with 9,500 high-grade stainless steel “scales” that will imitate the appearance and the color of salmon skin with its unique reflection.
The site called Hågardsneset, hosts natural conditions that enable Eide Fjordbruk to produce healthy salmon in a sustainable way.
Arriving at the centre by ferry, visitors will see an interactive model of the production facility, a projection surface made from a net suspended from ceiling to floor, on which thousands of salmon are swimming, and a “window” in the middle of the floor where they can look down into the sea.
Winding rampways and stairs take visitors up through the structure, and at several places, they can interact with projections on the walls and interactive displays.
The Salmon Eye has been designed to align with the nearby Folgefonnsenteret attraction in Rosendal, where information about the Hardangerfjord, the Folgefonna National Park and climate change is available in the visitor centre.
Inside, the interactive exhibition area focuses on highlighting facts with a global perspective on local challenges, solutions and innovations, especially environmental and sustainable issues of global aquaculture including impacts for wild salmon strains.
The experiences unfold along the paths of rampways and stairs, while visitors can interact with projections on the walls and in large roe-shaped, interactive displays at several places along the course.
The lift provides an alternative opportunity to move between levels and to the roof terrace.
“The implementation of such a project requires the highest level of commitment from each of the participants involved, as nothing remotely similar we haven’t constructed before,” states Fjodor Kvitš, a member of the Marketex Marine Board.
“The entire construction is a combination of a pontoon and an unconventional elliptical upper structure shaped to resemble a fish eye.”
“On the outside, the structure is to be covered with 9 500 high-grade stainless steel ‘scales’ that will imitate the appearance and the color of a salmon skin with its unique reflection. The works are running as scheduled, and the steel structure has been sent for paint coating.”
Project: Salmon Eye
Architects: Kvorning Design
Contractor: Marketex Marine
Client: Eide Fjordbruk
