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Indoor playground “Wal Willi”, Friedrichskoog
Indoor Playground “Wal Willi”,
Friedrichskoog
Situated directly on the North Sea and far away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities lies the community of Friedrichskoog in the district of Dithmarschen in Schleswig-Holstein. In this idyllic location, a new action-packed attraction for young and old was opened in 2008.
After three months of construction, the opening of the indoor play park in the shape of a whale took place on November 04, 2008. The unusual structure consists of a wooden skeleton, with almost no component resembling the other.
Project data
Place: Am Hafen 10, 25718 FriedrichskoogBuilder: Gemeinde Friedrichskoog Nordsee
Planning: 2006
Construction time: 2007 – 2008
Costs: 3.500.000 €
BRI: 13.150 m³
Photograph: rimpf Architektur & Generalplanung
Tourist magnet in the district of Dithmarschen, Schleswig-Holstein
In the belly of the colossus, which is 125 meters long, a maximum of 25 meters wide and 15 meters high, is an indoor playground covering some 2,000 m². With high-quality leisure activities for families, day visitors with children as well as tourists with longer stays, the hall shows itself to be a tourist magnet for the tourist community in the district of Dithmarschen.
The building, which is equipped with various large-scale playground equipment such as a bouncy castle, climbing rock, go-kart track and climbing frames with a ball pool, as well as small equipment such as foosball and billiards, is thus part of a systematic development concept that is intended to ensure the long-term preservation of the harbor.
A design language for children
The organic form of the building was modeled using a simple yet ingenious geometric principle: All truss arches were given the same shape – consisting of a circular segment with the same radius in the ridge area as well as sloping legs with the same angle of rise in each axis. The height of the ridge, the “whale wave”, thus gave rise to the flowing floor plan line.
Form and construction
The overall shape of the whale-shaped timber structure results from the juxtaposition of 25 such glulam arched trusses in the form of three-hinged frames, which are connected in a tilt-resistant manner with the aid of parallel “purlin strands” that vary only in height.
The imposing supporting structure of the building is completely visible from the inside even after completion, as the roof structure including insulation lies on the 32 mm thick plank formwork above the arched trusses.