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Set on the Hardangerfjord near Rosendal, the Michelin-starred Iris sits inside a steel ellipsoid clad like fish scales—its walnut-and-wool interior by Norm Architects softening the industrial shell.
Set on the Hardangerfjord in Rosendal, Norway, Iris Restaurant sits inside the Salmon Eye—a steel ellipsoid clad like fish scales, designed as a tribute to the salmon farms on these waters.
From the outside, the structure is all steel and geometry, equal parts infrastructure and sculpture. It’s a bold, almost brutal container—built to be seen from a distance, and hard to ignore up close. Inside, Norm Architects answered that hardness by going warm. The dining room is wrapped in walnut tones and soft materials. Upholstered seating and wool surfaces take the edge off the metal shell. The lighting is kept low and controlled, more like a good living room than a floating monument.
A lot of the work happens at the level of comfort. This is a Michelin-starred tasting menu, which means you’re here for a while. The furniture looks custom because it basically has to be—scaled to the room, made to feel calm, made for sitting without shifting around. Nothing is loud. Nothing is decorative for the sake of it.
The fjord stays in view through the windows. Mountains and weather become the backdrop to dinner, changing slowly as the courses arrive. The contrast is the whole point: a soft interior floating inside a tough, industrial shell, with Norway doing what Norway does outside.
Yes, it pushes the concept hard. The building wants attention, the setting is dramatic, and the whole thing could easily become about the building itself. But Norm Architects brings it back to the human side—warmth, comfort, time at the table. Taken as a whole, it lifts the experience, and we love it.
