ArchitectureRødbyhavn · Built; to be dismantled later
Arup's Pilen viewpoint over the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel works in Denmark
A 217-metre timber-and-steel ramp lets the public look over the building of an undersea tunnel linking Denmark and Germany.
The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will run 18 kilometres under the sea between Rødbyhavn in Denmark and Puttgarden in Germany, and it is hard to picture something that size. Arup's answer is Pilen, Danish for "the arrow": a long, ramped viewpoint built for the contractor Femern, which wanted to open its construction site to the public. The structure points straight at the spot where the tunnel will surface in Germany, working, as project architect Kristian Winther puts it, like a giant compass needle.
The scale is the point. Pilen is 217 metres long, the same length as each of the 89 concrete elements that will make up the tunnel. Its timber deck is planted with greenery and local vegetation, and a fully accessible walkway zigzags up through it to 24 metres above sea level, giving views over the works by the tunnel portal and out across the coast.
It is also built to leave. The timber and steel frame, foundations included, is designed to be taken apart once the tunnel is finished, with every piece reusable elsewhere. The tunnel is due for completion in 2029, so this is a viewpoint with a limited run. Worth the stop for anyone curious about big engineering, or simply wanting a long look at the Baltic coastline.
Our summary of a story from Dezeen, published 25 October 2026. Read the original
Photos: Dezeen · See all 8
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From Dezeen