A new ocean knowledge and experience centre designed by Dorte Mandrup is rising on Norway’s northern coast. Opening in June 2027, The Whale will combine an accessible whale-watching roofscape, immersive exhibitions and panoramic views across the Atlantic from Andenes, one of the world’s leading destinations for whale encounters.
Construction is advancing on The Whale, a major new cultural attraction in Andenes, northern Norway, scheduled to welcome its first visitors in June 2027. Positioned on the island of Andøya, approximately 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, the project will serve as a museum, visitor centre and public lookout dedicated to whales and marine ecosystems.
Designed by Copenhagen-based architect Dorte Mandrup, the low-lying building is conceived as a continuation of the rocky shoreline. Its sweeping, stone-clad parabolic roof curves up from the landscape to form a walkable public surface, enabling visitors to climb the structure and look out towards the Atlantic Ocean. Beneath it, a large column-free hall will contain exhibition galleries, a café, retail space and facilities for research and education.
The location is central to the project’s ambition. Andenes lies beside Bleiksdjupa, a deep-sea canyon that brings nutrient-rich waters and marine life unusually close to shore. The area has become internationally known for whale watching, including regular sightings of sperm whales. Rather than treating this natural phenomenon as a backdrop, The Whale is designed to make the coastline, ocean horizon and changing Arctic light part of the visitor experience.
Exhibition design firm Ralph Appelbaum Associates is developing the interpretive programme, which will combine science, art, storytelling and sound to explore whale biology, evolution, behaviour and ecology. The experience will also address the broader condition of the oceans, using the whale as a lens through which to consider environmental change and conservation.
The project is part of a growing shift towards destination architecture that integrates cultural programming with landscape. Its form is deliberately restrained: rather than standing as an object on the coast, the building follows the contours of the site, framing the surrounding mountains, sea and sky through expansive glazing.
When complete, The Whale will give visitors a new way to encounter one of northern Norway’s most dramatic environments—moving from exhibition spaces and scientific interpretation to the open roof, where the possibility of seeing whales remains immediate and real. The centre is currently scheduled to open on 3 June 2027.
Photo courtesy of Ralph Appelbaum Associates
