Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter by Haisheng Xu

Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter by Haisheng Xu is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2026 A' Design Award i Brons in Arkitektur-, Byggnads- och Konstruktionsdesign Competition Category.

BronsArkitektur· 2026

Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter

by Haisheng Xu

Client: Studio 0

A' Design Award i Brons Winner in Arkitektur Category

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Verified Award Winner

Verify Award Status for #182286

View at A' Design Award Press Release Award Badge

Colors

The Design

About Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter

Volcano Visitor Center är ett besökscenter på Island som presenterar geologisk, historisk och kulturell information om isländska vulkaner. Byggnaden omfattar 7 300 kvadratfot och är infälld i det vulkaniska landskapet, där underjordiska utrymmen förenas med ett skulpterat taklandskap. Materialpaletten är enkel och består av betong, metall och glas, med ett grönt tak utformat för att gynna lokala växter. Parametriska designverktyg formade den böjda formen samtidigt som en rationell geometri bibehölls. Rörelseflödet leder besökarna till att uppleva horisonten, landskapet och naturen.

The Recognition

About the A' Design Award i Brons

Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter är vinnare av A' Design Award i Brons, ett högst prestigefyllt erkännande som tilldelas enastående designverk som utmärker sig genom kreativitet, uppfinningsrikedom och klokhet. Bronsvinnare är mycket skickliga och slående kreativa föremål som styrker formgivarnas stora erfarenhet, fantasi och påhittighet. Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter förväntas vara ett högt skattat, beundrat och älskat föremål som är anmärkningsvärt professionellt och innovativt. Detta vinnande verk i A' Design Award i Brons införlivar bästa praxis inom konst, vetenskap, design och teknik och är utmärkt genom sin omsorg om detaljer. Volcano Visitor Center Besökscenter tillfredsställer fantastiskt behov, rör vid längtan, charmar känslor och väcker nyfikenhet.

Behind the Design

Press Kit

Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.

Unique Properties: Embedded within the volcanic terrain, the project dissolves the boundary between building and landscape, offering a continuous journey of light, earth, and horizon. By uniting subterranean shelter with sculpted roofscape, it transforms architecture into an environmental mediator that preserves the site while intensifying experience, inviting visitors to inhabit nature not as observers, but as participants in its elemental presence.
Dimensions & Packaging: 7,300 square feet.
Tags: Sustainability, Landscape Architecture, Mobius,Parametric, Curvilinear
Production Technology: The building is intended to use local materials and minimize its impact on the existing landscape. The material palette is kept simple, consisting of concrete, metal, and glass, with a green roof designed to support local plants. Parametric design tools were used to create a dynamic form responding to the organic landscape while maintaining rational geometry and production control. View and lighting analyses were also used to verify the design outcomes.
Design Challenge: The creative challenge was to create a manmade form that responds to the existing landscape and site language without simply mimicking nature. The design philosophy explores how humans, while adapting to nature, interpret and reshape the surrounding environment to achieve a new balance that can sustain human life in a sustainable and long-lasting way.
Research: The research focused on two main aspects. The first examined how volcanic activities have shaped Iceland’s landscape and human activities. It was particularly inspiring to understand how volcanoes and the hidden underground world provide fertile soil and geothermal heat for life, while many human activities and habitats are partially or fully embedded underground. The second aspect studied the geometries and forms generated by volcanic activities.
Inspiration: Iceland’s settlement history is shaped by volcanic forces and the landscapes and energy they generate. The vast horizontal terrain fosters a close relationship between human life and the earth. Inspired by volcanic forms and the mystery of the underground, the design reinforces this connection by integrating surface and subterranean space. It invites visitors to reflect on nature as they experience the expansive horizon.
Project Duration: 2025, Iceland
Operation Flow: The design serves as a tourist center introducing geological, historical, and cultural information about Icelandic volcanoes, showing how volcanic activities have shaped Iceland’s environmental and social landscapes. The concept originates from volcanic terrain, particularly exploring the interface between the ground surface and the underground. Around this interface, the building's circulation guides visitors to experience the horizon, the land, and nature.
Team Members: Haisheng Xu