Inside Under, the World’s Largest Underwater Restaurant Located in Norway

Above ground, the structure appears to be shipwrecked, buoyed by the rough seas before resting along the southernmost tip of the Norwegian coast.

In actuality, the concrete block half-submerged in the North Sea has been positioned not with the help of nature’s fury, but that of cranes and tugboats anchoring the structure in the seabed five metres below.

Under features concrete walls half a metre thick to withstand pressure from the rugged sea conditions. (Photo: Ivar Kvaal, courtesy of Under restaurant)

The block in question is a restaurant called Under, located half underwater and half above sea level in Lindesnes, Norway. In Europe, it is the first restaurant located under the sea; in the world, it is the largest.

Through land entry from above, guests are welcomed from the rough coastline into a tranquil foyer clad in oak. A staircase descends into the building – a monolithic block 34 metres in length – where the surrounds, particularly the ceiling, transitions from wood into textile, down into the 40-person dining room dominated by a deep blue.

Guests make their way through a multicolour stairwell reflecting colours of the sunset, into a dining room with custom furniture for the restaurant. (Photo: Inger Marie Grini/Bo Bedre Norge, courtesy of Under)

Designed by Snøhetta, a design studio with offices in Oslo, Innsbruck, Paris, New York and San Francisco, the interiors feature bespoke textiles cladding the surface into the belly of the building, changing in colour as a metaphor for wading deep into the water. By the mezzanine and bar, a vertical window by the side reveals the exteriors above sea level down to the seabed.

The interiors’ wooden touches were designed in collaboration with local carpentry shop Hamran, who has helped outfitted the walls, roof, and floor with Norwegian oak. (Photo: Inger Marie Grini/Bo Bedre Norge, courtesy of Under)

The main dining area, on seabed level, features a window – 11m-wide and 3.4m-tall – into the sea. Over a cuisine of unique Norwegian flavours and ingredients that include stone crab and rugose squat lobster, mahogany clam and local lamb from Lindesnes – from the kitchen helmed by Danish chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard, formerly of Måltid restaurant in Kristiansand – diners get a glimpse of the marine wildlife this side of the North Sea, in their seasonally shifting underwater environment.

The dining room, with views under the North Sea, can seat 40. (Photo: Ivar Kvaal, courtesy of Under)

LED lamps on the ceiling panels illuminate the dining room, responding to light conditions inside and outside the building, while artificial lighting illuminating the seabed by the restaurant are installed to attract fish. Further, cameras and other tools have been installed at the site to help facilitate research on marine biology and fish behaviour – a second purpose the restaurant serves.

Many of the ingredients featured in Under’s dishes have been foraged and harvested from the locale by the kitchen team. (Photo: Ivar Kvaal, courtesy of Under)

In Norwegian, ‘under’ means ‘below’ as well as ‘wonder’ – a name aptly reflecting the dining experiencing to be had at Under. Tour more of the restaurant through the gallery below.

Inside Under, the World’s Largest Underwater Restaurant Located in Norway — Photo: Ivar Kvaal, courtesy of Under