Visited primarily for its abundance of birdlife and fresh oysters, the Wadden Sea National Park on the west coast of Denmark has a new attraction – a 25-metre-high lookout that spirals upward from the landscape like the pointy end of a corkscrew. Located within the Marsk Camp vacation spot, the mesmerising structure arrives courtesy of world-renowned architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group. The Netherlands-based practice, known simply as BIG, has created innovative and boundary-pushing architectural gestures around the globe.
Surrounded by the flourishing marshlands of Denmark, the lookout has been given the name Marsktårn or Marsk Tower (translating to Marsh Tower). The spiralling steel monolith provides visitors with wildlife encounters and elevated 360-degree views, expanding visibility from nearly 4 kilometres in each direction at ground level to more than 18 kilometres from the top of the tower.
Marsk Tower in Denmark by BIG / News highlights
- Dutch architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has completed the Marsk Tower in Denmark, located within the Marsk Camp, a vacation spot on the country’s west coast.
- Its name translates to ‘Marsh Tower’, reflecting its location within the marshlands of the UNESCO-listed Wadden Sea National Park.
- The tower’s double-helix arrangement rises 146 steps, delivering visitors to a viewing platform 25 metres from ground level and 36 metres above sea level.
- Defined by rusty-red corten steel, the simple design of the lookout “exudes a natural aesthetic,” says the architects.
- A passenger lift at the centre of the tower allows higher levels of accessibility, including for people in wheelchairs.
“Because of the earth curvature, visitors will gradually expand their view of the horizon while walking to the top of the tower,” says BIG partner Jakob Lange. At its highest, 146 steps from ground level and 36 metres above sea level, the vantage point makes it possible to see all the way to Ribe and Sild, and across the island of Rømø to the sea on the other side.
“The tower is inspired by a human DNA string with two different staircases,” says the architects, referencing the tower’s double-helix formation. They explain that one of the staircases facilitate the visitors walking up to the top of the tower while the other allows people to walk down without congestion. “Both [staircases] give visitors the ability to look out and experience nature from every angle,” the architects add.
Defined by rusty-red corten steel, the simple design of the tower “exudes a natural aesthetic that blends with the surrounding environment while simultaneously becoming a new, visible destination in Denmark,” the architects say. At the core of the structure lies a passenger lift allowing higher levels of accessibility, including for people in wheelchairs.
The Wadden Sea region is widely regarded for its impressive geological and ecological value, earning it UNESCO World Heritage Site status. It’s part of the largest tidal flats system in the world, which extends from the coast of Denmark to Germany and the Netherlands.
Nature lovers who visit Marsk Tower will enjoy the experience for its spectacular views – of mudflats and salt marshes – and the abundance of coastal wildlife. Architecture admirers will undoubtedly fall for the junction of design, landscape and superb local craftsmanship; a place where visitors “ascend and descend in a single spiralling loop from the sand to the sky,” the architects conclude.
Because of the earth curvature, visitors will gradually expand their view of the horizon while walking to the top of the tower.
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