Dorte Mandrup celebrates completion of heritage centre & seal hospital

Tenderstream member Dorte Mandrup is celebrating the opening of the Wadden Sea World Heritage Centre in Lauwersoog, the Netherlands. At high tide on 25h April, as the sun dipped towards the horizon, the doors opened to this new exhibition space, with members of the public having the chance to take in the unique Wadden Sea Experience. They could also visit the centre’s seal hospital – including the ten seals currently residing there. The centre is an initiative of the Sealcentre Pieterburen, offering a new place to experience the region with researchers, seal carers, fishermen, students, sustainable entrepreneurs, and nature conservationists joining forces to preserve, maintain and communicate the area’s natural heritage.

Last in line after the Wadden Sea Centre in Denmark and the Trilateral Wadden Sea World Heritage Partnership Centre in Germany, the completion of the new facility marks the third Dorte Mandrup project in this unique environment - the largest unbroken system of intertidal sand and mudflats in the world. Lauwersoog is a popular place for fishermen casting their nets and visitors venturing into the UNESCO protected coastal wetlands. Here, in the almost endless Dutch landscape, is an opportunity to experience a 360-degree view of the flat horizon, dominated by land and water. Created as a spiralling movement upwards and around, the centre gives visitors a view over the sea, the Lauwersmeer lake, the maritime life in the harbour, and the rich grasslands of the national park.

Dorte Mandrup states: “The new Wadden Sea World Heritage Centre pays homage to the historic maritime activity in Lauwersoog. At the same time, it presents a contemporary expression that enriches the diversity of the buildings in the area. Drawing inspiration from the the endless cycle of the tide, the gradual spiral-like incline – like the continuous rising and falling of the water surface – offers a stunning 360-degree view of the sea, the Lauwersmeer and the surrounding landscape as visitors ascend through the building. It almost gives you the feeling of being one with the sea.”

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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