Ozeaneum

When you reach Helgoland for the first time, you notice the spectactular landscape with its steep cliffs and the seperation of the upper and lower land. The historical island marks the german territory in the north sea and houses a strong community with their own dialect and culture. A new designed scoial melting pot on the island includes an aquarium, event hall and café. A research center about the islands flora and fauna as well as a museum displaying the islands eventfull past, present and challenging future. The complex adresses tourists but especially the inhabitants of Helgoland.

Helgoland is known for its steep red cliffs. They create a rough edge for the soft upper land with its green soft surface. When walking the Klippenwanderweg on top, following the cliffs and surrounding the eastern and western part of the island the visitor is out of touch with the water and the lower land, shaping the island as a whole. The designed intervention cuts into the cliff. A stair fills up the void and creates a connection between the upper land and the water as well as the lower land. Cubic elements placed in different angles merge with the stair and cliff and create terraces and plateaus refering to the urban typology of Helgoland. In them the different uses are easy to seperate and self-sufficient. The visitor can reach his destiantion via the outdoor stairs and terraces while coming in contact with other community groups and crafts. Always protected by the steep cliffs and with a good view of the rough sea beneath. Only one element sticks out of the islands volume at the top, marking the entrance to the complex like a lightouse. The same element is rotated and layed flat to create a pier at the very bottom of the Ozeaneum.