Stavanger, Norway

Pulpit Rock Mountain lodge

Helen & Hard

photo by Emile Ashley

The new Pulpit Rock mountain lodge, the winning design competition entry in 2004, accommodates twenty-eight guest rooms, a café, a restaurant and a conference room. The lodge is situated at the trail-head leading up to The Pulpit Rock, the sheer cliff cantilevering over the Lysefjord.

photo by Emile Ashley

Site Conditions & Placement

photo by Erita Attali

The lodge’s placement and massing is well fitted into the immediate environment with its undulating terrain, its roof profile drawn from adjacent peaks. The volume is furthermore bent around a rock outcropping creating a gesture to the main entrance. It has an access path going around the hill to the access plateau in front of the entrance. The roof overhangs at different places to cover outdoor spaces and terraces connected to the restaurant and conference room.

photo by Erita Attali

Client

photo by Jiri Havran

The client is Stavanger Turistforening (Stavanger Trekking Association). They needed a new building to serve the rapidly increasing amount of tourists going to see the Pulpit Rock (approximately 120 000/year). It was also clear that the old cabin (built 1947) did not meet modern standards. The wish from the client was to create an accommodation building with upgraded bathroom facilities but still quite modest. The building should have universal access and be built in environmentally friendly materials.

photo by Jiri Havran

Construction & Materials

photo by Jiri Havran

The construction system consists of 32 wooden ribs of massive timber elements placed with a distance of 2.8m. Every wall, floor and roof element is built up with the same prefabricated system. The ribs are made double in-between the guestroom so that the floor elements hang in between and the lateral sound transfer is avoided. In the public rooms the ribs are hollowed out to create more spacious rooms. The orientation of the ribs is defined according to the best view.

photo by Sune Eriksen

The massive timber is made of a system called Holz100. This was chosen for the construction because of its completely pure wooden system without any glue or nails. The timber panels, consisting of different layers of wood, are only held together by wooden dowels, which swell after being injected. This means that the wood is keeping almost all of its normal performative qualities according to load carrying capacity and directionality. A very specific and controlled use is demanded to keep within the static possibilities.

photo by Sune Eriksen

The static challenge for this part of the lodge was the large span over the public spaces; the café and restaurant. It was solved by turning the build-up of the elements inside out, exposing the diagonal layers which then could extend into the room at a higher level and form a unique spatial geometry for the public rooms. At the same time showing the unique construction principle of Holz100 and the wooden materials very intrinsic qualities.

Sustainable aspects

Maximising sustainability, the design utilizes a compact form with large openings towards the south, facing the view. Materials used are few, but “pure”: wood, stone, steel, glass and concrete. All the materials used are proven emission-free and non-toxic. Massive timber walls are insulated with recycled newspapers on the outside, covered with a wood fibre plate and cladding in pine core wood. The total thickness of the walls is 60cm. The passive house standard windows windows have a U-value of 0,7. The energy supply is heated water in the stone floors provided by a heat exchanger that gains energy from the nearby lake.

Europaconcorsi Beta

Pulpit Rock Mountain lodge