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Architects: Mad arkitekter
- Area: 16500 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Kyrre Sundal
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Manufacturers: Gustafs
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Lead Architects: Karen Selmer
Text description provided by the architects. The existing building at St. Olavs plass 5 was built for Oslo Helseråd in 1968-1969. Designed by architect Erling Viksjø, the building has a triangular footprint and is situated on a site which slopes down from St. Olavs plass in the north to Pilestredet in the south.
Oslo Helseråd is a fine example of Erling Viksjø’s architecture and is of great architectural value, underlined by the fact that the building is listed on Oslo Landmark Preservation Committee’s yellow list, for buildings and landmarks worthy of conservation and preservation. The building comprises a clear and simple volume with uniform facades in a strict grid structure and is clearly defined at the corners, cornice, and plinth. The facade is loadbearing and constructed with ‘natural concrete’, Erling Viksjø’s patented method of producing concrete with a large aggregate and a sand-blasted finish.
The building has been modernised to accommodate new office spaces for lease, but also includes new extrovert functions at street level. The facades at street level have, in close dialogue with Oslo Landmark Preservation Committee, been opened in a restrained and sensitive way. Outdoor spaces have been refreshed and rejuvenated to give a greener touch. This, along with the extrovert business/catering on the ground floor, contributes to greater life in the area and a more attractive street scape and urban space.
New materials have been chosen to complement and highlight the architecture, concrete, oak, and black detailing, with partial reuse of original oak doors. Focus was placed on reducing the number of different materials and colours within the building, in favour of creating a coherent flow using similar colours and materials, in both the interior and exterior. All windows in the upper floors have the same uniform colour, close to the original, whilst all windows, doors and fittings on the ground floor are black-brown, slightly darker than the original in order to define it.
The concept for material use within the project aims to tie together the original elements with the present and compliment the ‘natural concrete’ both inside and outside. Focus has been placed on solid and rational building materials where buildability and environmental qualities, regarding both production and interior climate, play off each other. The original technical floors at the top of the building have been removed to make way for an offset office space (9th floor). A new smaller technical floor, further offset and in the original hexagonal style, on the floor above houses new and updated technical installations.
The technical floor is clad in perforated, anodized aluminium panels, meaning that vents for air intake, cooling equipment etc. are integrated within the façade. This floor is barely visible from ground level and its materiality compliments the double glass façade of the 9th floor, both reflective and cohesive in their expression.
