Pilgrim Center in Røldal

Our proposal for the new Pilgrims Center in Roldal is presented as a new meeting and reunion space, within a wide and impressive valley surrounded by beautiful high mountains.

Through its urban deployment, the new building will connect in an effective way, the road leading to the church with the beautiful natural area that extends to the southwest. In this sense our project works as a link which takes visitors from a traffic road, to a tranquility and contemplation area that opens to the surrounding landscape.

The strategic placement of the building creates two outdoor spaces with a very different character among them. In the Northeast, the shape of the building invites visitors to come to it through a large meeting and reception space. This space also has a large outdoor covered area that will be used by visitors who come to the center when it is closed. This way the building tries to embrace visitors without interrupting direct views towards the Church.

The second outer space that the building generates is located at the southwest, It is linked to the cafeteria and it works as a terrace that opens onto the area with the best views of the plot. While the first open space acts as a meeting place and gathering of pilgrims, linked directly to the cemetery and the church, this second outside area looks directly to the nature and the landscape.

We have taken special care in the way that the new building relates to the Church, both physically and visually. The shape and height of our proposal does not compete with the presence of the Church, but at the same time manifests itself as a building with a personal nature. Our project is a work of representative architecture easily recognizable, while it respects and adds something new to the existing environment. Even without resorting to a monumental volume, the new building works in conjunction with the Church, becoming both a major point of reference and also acts as a focus of activation for the whole area.