Far north in Norway, around 300 kilometres above the Arctic Circle, a new museum is taking shape on the rocky coastline of Andenes. Designed by Danish architect Dorte Mandrup, “The Whale Andøy” will occupy 3,750 square metres and bring architecture, marine research and the surrounding landscape into a single experience.
The building takes the form of a long, sweeping concrete shell that rises from the shoreline, its curved profile deliberately tied to the marine environment beyond it. Rather than treating the roof as a separate surface, the project turns it into public terrain: covered with locally sourced stone, it will be accessible to visitors as a walkable viewpoint facing the Norwegian Sea and the Vesterålen archipelago.
Its location is central to the story. Just offshore, the Bleiksdjupet submarine canyon brings deep, nutrient-rich waters close to the coast, creating favourable conditions for an unusually diverse marine ecosystem. Sperm whales, humpback whales, orcas and several other species pass through these waters, making Andenes an important base for whale watching in Norway.
Inside “The Whale”, visitors will move through nine exhibition spaces dedicated to the animals inhabiting these waters. The programme examines whale evolution, anatomy, behaviour and communication, while also looking at the long and complicated relationship between humans and the ocean.
The exhibition was developed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates together with Tamschick Media + Space, with the sequence designed as a gradual movement from the scale of the individual animal towards the much larger systems surrounding it. The journey eventually reaches the depths of the ocean before expanding into a broader exploration of the interconnected seas that cover the planet.
The project has been more than a decade in development and is now moving towards completion on the Andenes coast. “The Whale Andøy” is scheduled to open on 3 June 2027, with general admission beginning the following day.
Dorte Mandrup online:
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Ralph Appelbaum Associates online:
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Photo: (c) Mir