Oslo-based Transborder Studio have won a competition for the development of new “Agricultural District” surrounding a former dairy factory in East Oslo. Selected from 5 proposals from invited architect teams, the winning design, entitled “Follow the Milk,” strives to develop the district into a place where “ agriculture has a new relevance related to urban food culture, bioproducts and the agricultural sector’s role in a sustainable future.”
Located next to Bjørvika, the Oslo Central Station, the historical old town and the multicultural Grønland neighborhood, the neighborhood of Lanbrukskvartalet is centered around the historic dairy factory, which was constructed in 1912.
Transborder Studio’s plan will renovate the factory into a mixed-use facility containing program elements such as a food market and microbrewery. A mix of existing and new surrounding buildings (including one cheese-inspired building) have been arranged based on an analysis of the logistic pathways of the existing factory, and will also contribute to the agricultural block with green roofs and beehives for producing honey.
“Landbrukskvartalets existing design is about logistics; Milk in and dairy products out,” the architects explain. “Transborder's concept starts with following the milk through the facility, letting the flow of the milk define the design decisions. This results in a porous city block with several openings to the surroundings, a cluster of urban spaces with strong identity and a clear communication of the industrial heritage.”
The masterplan will double the total area of the quarter from 30,000 to 60,000 square meters, including 30 percent housing, which will amount to about 200 new units.
The architects hope the design will allow the neighborhood to become “a reinterpretation of the site’s historic relationship between the city and the productive farmlands.” After winning the competition, Transborder Studio has now been commissioned to further develop the winning scheme.
News via Transborder Studio, Landbrukskvartalet, and Aftonposten.
Architects
Location
Schweigaards gate 34, 0191 Oslo, NorwayCompetition Team
Øystein Rø, Espen Røyseland, Håvard Skarstein, Fredrikke Frølich, Søren Olav Saanum Bessesen, Margrete Bjone EngelienProject Team
Håvard Skarstein (project architect), Øystein Rø, Espen Røyseland, Fredrikke Frølich, Gauthier Durey, Søren Olav Saanum BessesenCollaborators
Geir Nummedal (Landscape architecture, Asplan Viak)Project Year
2015Photographs
Courtesy of Transborder StudioArchitects
