Erlebnis-Hus St. Peter-Ording

The project's task was to find a sustainable, ecological and innovative solution, contributing to the attractiveness of the location, both from a tourism and societal perspective. In terms of inclusion, it should serve visitors of all ages and backgrounds as a meeting place that is formally and functionally anchored at a local level and also radiates a strong identity beyond the region.

We are interpreting the identity-forming pile dwellings on site with an impressive six-story weathered timber construction. It will become the new landmark of the municipality of St. Peter-Ording.

The tradition of pile dwellings on the beach of St. Peter-Ording, which have existed since 1911.

The new Erlebnis-Hus (Adventure House) forms the highlight and conclusion of the extended beach promenade behind the dyke, which is also intended to serve as a link between the two districts of Bad and Dorf. Despite its eye-catching shape, the wooden construction blends in sensitively with the surroundings of the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site. The timber matrix of the new pile dwelling extends organically into the surroundings and serves as a framework for play equipment. A footbridge connects the entrance level of the building barrier-free with the dyke and ends with a viewing platform.

The commission resulted from an open competition in 2017, which we won together with the landscape architecture firm Uniola.

The Tourismus-Zentrale (tourist office) manages and maintains all the pile dwellings in the municipality itself. This means that it has many years of experience and expertise in how to deal with exposed timber structures. This gave us the courage and the will to realize this unusual project. Throughout the planning and construction phase, there was close cooperation and coordination with the client.

The project was actually implemented from competition to completion with almost no design changes. However, the shortage of wood, Covid and the Ukraine crisis led to the construction costs increasing by almost a third.

The building is a timber hybrid construction. A reinforced concrete volume houses the emergency staircase, the elevator and the storage rooms at promenade level.

The timber matrix consists of glulam and the five cubes of cross-laminated timber with a suspended timber facade. We only used steel as a connecting element and in the form of stiffening elements where necessary.

The timber construction can be completely dismantled; beams and columns can be replaced in every second grid.

According to the motto “play in, on, under, next to and around,” the Erlebnis-Hus is a place that offers a program for everyone — regardless of age, origin or physical limitations. Because the various activities are spread all over the building, people interact with the house and move around it, creating a lively atmosphere and a new meeting place.

Creating architecture that touches and appeals to people, creating barrier-free meeting places and thus doing justice to social sustainability, are important themes in all our designs. Whether in urban planning, building construction or scenography, we have found that a design that engages everyone is not only a lot of fun to develop, but is also very positively received by people after completion and inspires them.

This interview was first published, in German, as “Erlebnis-Hus St. Peter-Ording” on German-Architects. Translation edited by World-Architects.