Oslofjord Convention Center
The Rødbanken quarter
The Rødbank quarter
Location
Tromsø
Size
8,900m²
Principal
Sparebank 1 Northern Norway
Year
2015
The Rødbanken quarter is a city quarter in Tromsø. It is located in the old town at the intersection of two main streets next to the city's cathedral park. The two restored, older monumental buildings and the new construction surround a glass-covered atrium. The new building is designed to complement the old, using similar materials, colors and scale.
The facades are illuminated to give the building active facades in the dark winter months when there is no daylight in arctic Tromsø.
The inner atrium is designed as an Italian piazza open to the public on the first floor. Cafes, events, artwork and planting surround cobbled floors.
The inner space is connected to the surrounding streets and the park with passages in all directions.
The internal facades facing the central courtyard/atrium are designed to show and expose the buildings from three different centuries.
The building's main purpose is to house the offices of Sparebank1 Nord-Norge. By opening up the various areas to the public, the building mass is also transformed into more than just a bank building and the areas are used for various public events and services that the bank offers as a non-profit.
Flow coworking
Flow coworking
Location
Tromsø
Size
Principal
Flow Coworking/Pellerin AS
Year
2018
FLOW Coworking is a shared office where different companies can sit together in a larger community. The building in Strandgata 9 in Tromsø was originally an industrial building from 1968, which was gradually converted into offices in the 90s.
Our mission was to upgrade the interior to a modern coworking solution.
There are several individual offices with shared meeting rooms, activity-based zones for informal gatherings – and an area for events and presentations. There is also a bar and café with associated workplaces. The bar area is also available for events outside of working hours.
The design of the room stems from the event and bar area with subdued lighting and darker wall colours. The room is divided into three zones; an entrance with a green lounge, the event area with a bar and seating areas in warm orange tones, and workstations facing the dock outside in various shades of blue.
Optician Jacobsen
Optician Jacobsen
Location
Tromsø
Size
Principal
Optician Jacobsen
Year
2018
Optician Jacobsen wanted a shop that radiated quality craftsmanship and modern design. We worked closely with them to visualize this vision and create a unique store interior. Inspired by the concept of presenting jewels in an exclusive and attractive environment, we designed the store to be unique and eye-catching.
An important element of the design was the use of floor-to-ceiling windows that extended from street level. This gave the store a distinct facade and allowed potential customers to catch a glimpse of the beautiful store interior from the outside. The windows draw passers-by into the store's "treasure trove" and entice curiosity to explore further.
Inside the store, the focus was on creating an elegant and luxurious atmosphere. Material selection and lighting were carefully chosen to highlight the products and convey a sense of exclusivity. The fixtures and display units were designed to highlight the store's products in an appealing way, creating a feeling of being in a jewelry store.
The overall goal of the design was to create a unique store concept that would attract customers and convey the value of good craftsmanship and modern design. The result is a shop that appeals to its customers and makes passers-by stop in front of Optiker Jacobsen's beautiful shop.
White pigmented wood is the main backdrop for the spectacles, showing them off clearly against the light materials.
Several distinct details in the shelves and the shop counter create a unique design. The lighting is specifically used as an effect to catch the eye when it's dark outside, and to underline the warm glow of the wood features. This is particularly relevant in Tromsø, as it is dark 24/7 several months a year.
Strandtorget 1
Strandtorget 1
Location
Tromsø
Principal
Pellerin A/S
Year
2018
The existing office building on Strandtorget in Tromsø was in great need of rehabilitation and upgrading. In addition to giving the facades a new, upgraded appearance, the client wanted to add two extra floors to increase the building's capacity and functionality.
During the design of the extension, account was taken of the need to maintain an aesthetic balance and prevent the main building from appearing too tall in relation to its surroundings. Therefore, the new floors are set back, so that they do not dominate or overshadow the original building. This creates a visual division and a more harmonious transition between existing and new volumes.
To further scale down the building's height and create a visual effect of a lower building mass, the facade of the extension was broken up using small glass panels and other architectural elements. This creates a break in vertical lines and gives a more fragmented and visually interesting facade. In this way, a downscaling of the building's overall visual impression is achieved.
Overall, the rehabilitation and facade upgrade, as well as the additional floors, helped to transform the existing office building on Strandtorget. The result is a modern and appealing building that balances both functionality and aesthetics, while maintaining harmony with the surrounding environment.
The main facade was changed to a complex expression to make the building harmonize better with its surroundings. The colors and small formats from the nearby buildings were used on the facade. An incision was made against the yellow house on the corner, so that the facade reflects a scale similar to that of the old wooden house.
Posthuset – Strandgata 41
Posthuset – Strandgata 41
Location
Tromsø
Customer
Pellerin A/S
Year
2018
The project rehabilitates the facades of two buildings of different character. The potential of the original facades was reinforced in two different design directions. Through such a deconstruction, two apparently separate buildings will harmonize better in scale with the smaller surrounding buildings.
The tallest building received a reinforced brick design with new details and a new coloring of the concrete. This is to emphasize that it is a separate red brick house, separate from the lower building. The lower building was then transformed into a brighter and more transparent house.
The facade facing Strandgata was replaced with a transparent glass facade on the three upper levels. The brick on the gable and the concrete shelf walls were painted in light colours. The extension and the lift facing the backyard were painted in a slightly darker shade to soften the impression against the main volumes.
It was important for us to visually establish both the buildings on the pavements and bring the facade colors all the way down. In this way, the visual affinity with the row of buildings in the street is established and the influence from the backyard on the east side is reduced.
China Eastern Airlines Head Office
Dronning Eufemias gate 6
Location
Oslo, Norway
Size
3,700 m²
Principal
Watrium AS
Year
2018
Dronning Eufemias gate 6 is designed as a mediator between Oslo Atrium and the "Barcode" development. Therefore, the vertical, stone-clad gable motif reflects the verticality of the corners of Oslo Atrium and the vertical gabled buildings of Barcode, which is further east. The curved west facade is clad with reflective, silk-screened glass panels facing the Oslo Atrium and provides light into and views out from both buildings. This benefits both those who work there, as well as giving an airiness to the space between them and the cityscape between them.
Dronning Eufemias gate 6 has a prominent position as part of the series of facades that form the background for the Opera in Oslo and Deichman's library. With its modest size, central location and high quality, the building is a firm marker in the new district.
The building is designed according to the "passive house" standard, and leaves a modest carbon footprint. Since the building is located close to the communications centre, Oslo central station, with train, bus and subway services, there are deliberately no parking spaces directly connected to the building. In contrast, there is a substantial bicycle parking and cloakroom facility in the basement. There is also a roof garden on level 7.
The beach promenade
The beach promenade
Location
Tjuvholmen, Oslo
Size
19,300m²
Principal
Aspelin Ramm/Selvaag
Year
2009
The building's facade varies in expression depending on which side it faces: facing Olav Selvaags Plass, it is small-scale and intimate, with a light and transparent quality, and is intended to appear withdrawn when viewed against the dominant tall corner building. Facing the Oslo Fjord and the park area, the building has a solid and precisely designed outdoor area to give residents a respite from city life. The building is located between the new canals that cross Tjuvholmen, Tjuvholmen Allé, Lille Stranden and Promenade (which faces Akershus Fortress). The building consists of three elements (see plan): building 31 (facing north), building 32 (facing Olav Selvaags Plass), building 33 (facing south) and building 34 (facing southeast). Grepet aims to create buildings that do not seem heavy, but which take into account the fact that the buildings are surrounded by water. It has therefore been chosen to mainly use "light" materials such as glass, metal cladding and fibre-cement panels, while "heavy" materials are limited to the plinth floor of the buildings. In this way, the transition between Aker Brygge's stone and brick facades and the lighter expression planned for the rest of Tjuvholmen is communicated. Where the facades open onto balconies, colored wooden slats are used to give these sitting areas a warm quality. Building 32 has bright facades with transparent glass panels with screen printing and corrugated metal cladding facing Olav Selvaags Plass and Akershus Fortress. Houses 31 and 34 have colored, perforated steel sheets to create a varied play with light, depending on the direction of the sun. Building 31 has a dark tone, while building 34 is somewhat lighter.
The first floor contains business premises with separate entrances. There are three entrances to the residential areas, one to the office, as well as a public passage that starts at the level of Olav Selvaags Plass (c+4.3) and rises gently towards the center of the building (c+3.4). This creates a line of sight from the square, through the area and out towards the fjord. Being raised in the middle also makes it light and open to walk along.
The central part of the building through which the passage passes is raised on tall, slender columns towards Olav Selvaags Plass. The passage is large and open, and the facade is mostly transparent to let light through the building from the southeast and into Olav Selvaags Plass, as well as providing a view from the square out over the fjord and the open sky. This helps to give the square an open and airy quality.
An archway has been built along the canal. This and the deck inside are lowered to c+1.6 to create contact between the water and the building. The ground level facing the promenade (facing Akershus fortress) and Tjuvholmen Allé has been lowered so that they meet the floor level inside the building. Cafes and restaurants have been set up in the areas facing the canals and the promenade. There is also an archway on the first floor along the facade facing Tjuvholmen Allé, where the two lowest floors facing Olav Selvaags Plass and along the Promenade are set back from the floors above.
Buildings 31, 32 and 33 are connected from the first floor up to the eighth floor, while building 34 stands alone to the southeast. Between buildings 31, 32, 33 and 34, a horseshoe-shaped outdoor area faces the fjord. On the first floor of this area there is a private garden for the residents. On the upper floors, many of the apartments have views towards this area and over the fjord. It is planned that this area will be lushly planted, with vegetation climbing up the walls in this area.
The first floor contains a large common entrance hall for the residents, with direct access to the private communal garden. The entrance hall contains common facilities such as a function room, lounge with fireplace, meeting room, gym, kitchen and dining area as well as service functions. Two of the building's main staircases and lift cores are accessed from this area.
The main entrance to the apartments in buildings 31, 32 and 33 is from Olav Selvaags Plass, via a staircase from the public passage up to the garden, from which the entrance hall is reached. Building 34 has an entrance through an entrance hall on the Promenade. The first floor consists primarily of offices and apartments.
From the second to the ninth floor there are apartments. The horseshoe-shaped outdoor area facing the fjord has a clear formal division on the fifth floor. It is formed with curved balconies up to the fifth floor, and then with a more rectangular facade treatment from the fifth to the eighth floor.
To let light down to Olav Selvaags Plass, the middle part of the building has been pulled back above the sixth floor, and the top floor in this area consists of a free-standing glass cube. These contain duplex apartments. Building 31, which is closest to Aker Brygge, extends up to 8 floors with a somewhat secluded common area with a roof terrace on the eighth floor. Building 33 extends up to 9 floors, but building 34 stops at 8 floors.
In addition to the shared roof terrace, there are several private roof gardens on levels 8 and 9.
The total floor area is approximately 19,300 m².