Arch2O.com

Arch2O.com - Architecture & Design Magazine
Snohetta lately unveiled its design of the first European underwater restaurant in BÃ¥ly, Norway. The new project, which also accommodates a research facility for aquatic life, hangs over an outcrop by the ocean. The structure is made of concrete and it is partially immersed in the water-five meters below the surface of the ocean. Linking itself with aquatic environment, the huge windows of the restaurant will have outstanding seabed views.
Courtesy of MIR and Snøhetta
The building?s smooth shape is enveloped in a concrete cover with a rugged surface to encourage mussels to latch on. The increase in the mussels? population will convert the building into one massive mussel reef. The reef will have a double function involving rinsing and cleaning the sea, as well as inviting more aquatic life to the rinsed waters. Courtesy of MIR and Snøhetta
Portions of the restaurant will be devoted to aquatic biology research- only during closing hours. “Researchers from Norwegian research centers will seek to train wild fish with sound signals, and will study whether fish behave differently throughout different seasons.”

The researchers will be responsible for improving the seabed conditions in order for the marine life to prosper close to the restaurant.
Courtesy of MIR and Snøhetta
The restaurant is composed of three levels. As the visitor walks through the entrance, they go through a wardrobe area, then descend...