Biotope, an architectural practice in Vardø, has over the years designed and built many bird hides in their local area Varanger which is a real paradise for birdwatchers. Thorough local birding knowledge combined with the aim to develop avitourism have decided the locations of these strategically placed structures. The buildings are small with simple contemporary designs predominantly made of wood and glass. This is architecture to promote experiencing nature. 

Each bird hide has it’s own site-specific design to fit in with the local habitat. “It is what you experience using our architectural structures that’s important, not the architecture itself”, say the architects and birders Tormod Amundsen, Elin Tananger and Alonza Garbett. Since inception their practice has grown and they now have projects both elsewhere in Norway and abroad. 

As part of a wider programme to create infrastructure for tourism focused on the natural environment the Scenic Routes Section of the Norwegian Public Roads Administration works with Biotope Arkitektur to develop bird hides from Varangerbotten to Hamningberg. The collaboration has produced bird hides at Steilneset and Kiberg in Vardø as well as at Ekkerøy, Vestre Jakobselv and the harbour in Vadsø.