Peter Zumthor created three buildings at the site of the old Allmannajuvet zinc mines

Work has been completed on a unique project for Norway’s National Tourist Route (NTR), with a cluster of prefabricated structures by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor creating a selection of viewpoints and architectural rest stops as part of a project dating back 14 years.

Allmannajuvet – which was first conceptualised and commissioned in 2002 by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration – is now open to the public, with the Allmannajuvet zinc mine site now featuring a mining museum, café and toilets. The café and museum are raised above the ground on timber supports, sitting over the rocky landscape of the mine. The service building – which contains the toilets and parking facilities – sits on the side of a stone wall.

According to the architect, the designs portray the “drudgery and strenuous nature” of the miners’ daily lives, with each structure assembled on site and fabricated with an exterior plywood cladding.

The zinc mines themselves date back to 1882 when 12,000 tons of zinc ore were produced up until 1898. The site was later repurposed as a tourist attraction and is one of 18 designated tourist trails that cross Norway’s fjords, islands, cliffs and boulder fields.