Birdwatching Tower AT Nyord Enge

New birdwatching tower on the island of Møn receives building and landscape award

‘A beautiful new place for observing and enjoying nature, constructed in wood and in a friendly architecture that matches the landscape and the conceptual content of the Møn Biosphere Area’ – this was part of the jury’s motivation when Bygnings- og Landskabskultur Møn (Møn Architectural and Landscape Culture) recently awarded designer Tobias Jacobsen its main 2022 award for the newbuilt birdwatching tower at Nyord Enge.

The 400-hectare area on Møn’s northern tip is one of the largest salt marshes in eastern Denmark. It is also one of the richest in terms of birdlife, especially ducks and waders, and is known for its many visiting birds of prey, including white-tailed eagles and peregrine falcons.

As an architectural element in the landscape, the 8.2-metre-tall birdwatching tower had to meet both functional and aesthetic demands, including contributing to a varied natural space and providing a place for people to watch the local birdlife from above. A stable floor was a key priority, as any shaking or vibrations make binoculars or a telescope difficult to use. The steps leading up to the tower are designed to accommodate users of all ages.

The characteristic batten cladding was inspired by the triangular land-based navigation marks that sailors use for guidance. When viewed from a certain angle, all the lines align. Similarly, in the design of the birdwatching tower, the slats are angled to so that someone standing on the ground looking up can glimpse the sky through the structure. The result is a light and simple expression with a slight moiré effect. The horizontal lines run the full width of the tower, creating a calm ascent as one moves up the steps. The battens also serve to conceal the construction, giving the tower an almost transparent expression from outside and allowing it to blend into the horizontal landscape. A key goal was to create a tower that differs from the makeshift towers often found in nature. To set the structure apart from a hunting blind, parts of the construction are hidden, and the X-shaped structural elements are made of metal bars. The timber construction uses larch and Douglas fir, which are very durable due to their high resin content. For environmental reasons the timber is untreated.

The birdwatching tower was created by designer Tobias Jacobsen (MDD) in collaboration with Rambøll and constructed by TTS Langeland with funding from the A.P. Moller Foundation, the Outdoor Council, Familiefonden and Aage V. Jensen Naturfond.