SØMÆRKET – A Floating Beacon for Denmark’s Largest Marine Nature Park
SØMÆRKET is a new access point to Nature Park Lillebælt, a protected coastal landscape through which the Lillebæltstrait flows. Known for the world’s highest density of harbour porpoises and a rich variety of flora and fauna, it attracts divers from across Europe. This new educational and experiential platform highlights the natural life and history of the LittleBelt while connecting the cities of Middelfart, Kolding, and Fredericia.
“Communicating the wonders of life below water has never been more urgent than now. Therefore, we are so happy to have won the competition for a new educational and experiential platform for Nature Park Lillebælt, which will help us better understand marine life. Nature Park Lillebælt is Denmark’s largest Marine Nature Park, spanning several cities.
Designed by MAST in collaboration with EFFEKT, SØMÆRKET draws inspiration from historic seamarks—elaborate wooden structures used as navigation aids along Denmark’s coasts in the late 19th century. It celebrates Danish maritime history while creating a new typology of floating educational platform and a national park icon.
The platform, moved by tugboat between three locations along Little Belt, provides school groups, tourists, and the publican opportunity to immerse themselves in the strait’s stories and offers new access points for kayaking, swimming, diving, and fishing.
Category
Public Space
Client
Municipalities of Middelfart, Kolding, and Fredericia
Timeline
2024 ongoing
Location
Denmark
Size
200 square meters
Collaborators
EFFEKT
Stories of the sea
Nature Park Lillebælt, connecting continental Jutland and the island of Funen, has a unique natural environment and his-tory. SØMÆRKET tells this story through printed fossils, illustrations, and text scattered around the structure. It includes an enclosed laboratory space for experiments and storytelling. Below deck, an underwater room projects underwater foot-age on raw concrete walls.
The platform also offers direct experiences of the strait, with a kayak launch point, swimming platform, and an integrated seaweed and mussel farm.
A Beacon In the Blue
The floating platform connects future generations with the blue nature around us and serves as a floating landmark for the nature park. Its dramatic pyramidal structure stands 7 meters above the water, projecting from the harbours and acting as a visual beacon. The upper deck offers panoramic views, while a small ‘crow’s nest,’ accessible via a short climb through a fishnet tunnel, provides braver visitors with an even more spectacular view.
The platform is constructed from hefty locally sourced Douglas fir beams and the reclaimed concrete barge has had many previous lives over the past 20 years including as the base of a floating house and a temporary pavilion for the UIA architecture festival. The barge was rescued from demolition for the project.
The design was the winning entry in an invited competition initiated by the municipalities of Middelfart, Kolding and Fredericia. Construction of the platform will begin this summer and it is due to be launched in 2025.
Other project partners include NBC Marine and DAS BOOT. The Obel Foundation has generously donated the pontoon, supporting the mission while enhancing public accessibility and engagement with Nature Park Lillebælt’s beautiful maritime environment. The project is co-financed by the European Union, Denmark’s Business Promotion Board, the Danish Outdoor Council, and Nordea Fonden.
