recreational solutions

Wooden footpaths and bird watching towers

In order to allow visitors to connect more with nature, wooden footpaths could be placed to indicate a route throughout the natural area. This way visitors can enjoy a guided path that minimally impacts the ecosystems while connecting to nature.

Bird watching towers should be the new highlight and attraction of the area, allowing visitors to watch birds and other species while leaving them undisturbed.

Visitors centre

The journey to several features on the pier starts with a visit to the visitors centre. This building provides information and other facilities that will be discusses later on this page. The building will also be an attraction in itself, as its structure is recycled from the vacant parking garage that was left on the pier, inspired by Annabel by Zones Urbaines Sensibles, or ZUS.

The exterior of the visitors centre will be inspired by the Wadden Centre on the Afsluitdijk, which similarly houses several facilities that make the visit to the pier more appealing. In order to allow a good view of the area, windows will be installed around the building.

An example of a Wadden museum exposition

Museum

To allow visitors to fully embrace the Wadden area, the visitors centre will house a museum. This museum will provide information on several topics, including the salt marshes, plant and animal species from the Wadden Sea and other information about the region. The museum could be a reason to visit the pier in itself.

Sustainable restaurant

Another facility that is integrated into the visitors centre is a sustainable restaurant. The current pier houses a restaurant that in the new vision is to be improved and integrated into the visitors centre, providing a fitting dining experience to the area. The restaurant can even offer local products, such as samphire or blue mussels, making the experience that more unique.

The Living Garden

Vertical garden

Another feature of the visitors centre is the vertical garden. This feature is simply what the name suggest: by planting several local plant species on the wall, a vertical garden is created, allowing the building to be better integrated into the pier as it suits its natural environment. This feature was inspired by and artwork called "The Living Garden" by MOMA.

Excursions

From the visitors centre several fun activities can be offered, such as for instance excursions. These excursions can be suited to several age groups, for instance by offering calm excursions that simply let guests see the surrounding nature while offering information on several plant and animal species that can be found along the way.

Another form of excursion that can be offered is mudflat hiking, meaning guests are walking on the dry seabed from the pier to Ameland. This is a unique and fun experience.

An example of a playground with integrated water facilities.

Playground

In order to provide a fun experience to children that visit the pier, a playground can be build next to the visitors centre. The playground can even be build region-specific by for instance integrating water into the playground, allow children to play while connecting to the region.

Sun trains

As the parking spaces are removed from the pier and moved elsewhere, people need a mean of transport to get from the parking spaces for the pier. Therefore, sun trains are suggested as a way of transport. These sun trains run on solar power, meaning a green, sustainable way of travelling. Other than this, the sun trains are open because of the many windows that it consists of, allowing visitors to enjoy the region while travelling to their destination, maybe attracting more visitors than just people passing by.

A sun train