Project Name:
Norwegian National Oil Company Regional and International Office Building
Statoil Regional and International Offices
Project Location: Fornebu, Norway
Project Area: 117,000 square meters
Design Competition: 2009
Completion Date: 2012
A-lab Architecture Firm Official Website: __AI_S_TURL_0__
Visit the A-lab architecture office website: http://a-lab.no/
In February 2009, Norwegian architectural firm A-lab won the open competition to design the new regional and international office building for the Norwegian National Oil Company. The project was completed in autumn 2012.
The new Statoil office building consists of five identical office modules, each three stories tall, measuring 140 meters in length and 23 meters in width. These modules are stacked in a staggered arrangement with varying orientations to maximize natural light indoors and provide sweeping views of Oslo Bay. The building resembles an observation deck along the coastline, offering panoramic vistas of the surrounding landscape.
The exterior features an elegant white, prefabricated aluminum facade. The ends of the elongated modules are black, designed as sunshade grilles composed of black and gray laminated glass. From different viewing angles, the transparency and visual effect vary dramatically.
Office Complex Amid Stunning Natural Scenery
The Norwegian National Oil Company is Norway’s leading energy producer and ranks 57th worldwide by revenue. It employs 30,000 people across 37 countries, with 2,500 working in this unique office building. Employees here enjoy magnificent views of nearby parks and Oslo Bay. As an international company known for its pioneering spirit, the building’s iconic design reflects the company’s significance while adding vitality and a fresh architectural character to the local environment.
Formerly the main airport for Oslo, the Fornebu area is undergoing a transformation into a vibrant urban district featuring commercial, residential, and public entertainment spaces. The primary design challenge was to balance the building’s scale with its surroundings, while injecting new energy into nearby parks and commercial zones. The project specifically addressed how to integrate a 65,000/117,000 square meter commercial complex into the pastoral coastline setting of Fornebu.
Most of the former airport site has been converted into a public park and pedestrian promenade along Oslo Bay. The new office building rises above the multi-level parking lot of the old airport. Its design minimizes the building footprint, preserving ample open space for the park.
Modular Structure
The building is composed of five similar office modules, each three floors high, 140 meters long, and 23 meters wide. Their orientations differ to optimize daylight and provide stunning views of Oslo Bay.
Inside, a public atrium and a “City Square” connect various social and functional spaces on the ground floor. Rooted in democratic principles, the large glass windows in the atrium offer natural light and beautiful views to all occupants.
Innovative Structural Design
The architectural design draws inspiration from petroleum industry technology. A steel superstructure enables cantilevered blocks extending up to 30 meters. Four large concrete cores house staircases and service facilities, ensuring structural stability. The facade is composed of approximately 1,600 prefabricated elements, integrating windows, insulation, and sunshades for energy efficiency. Despite this, the facade shows no visible installation seams, maintaining a clean appearance.
Propeller-Shaped Glass Roof
The atrium is topped with a high-tech, propeller-shaped glass roof — the first of its kind in Scandinavia. Its geometric design resembles “soap bubbles,” minimizing surface area relative to volume between modules. Considering snow loads, this roof presented one of the project’s most complex engineering challenges.
Encouraging Social Interaction
At the heart of the social life in the building is a communication tower located in the public atrium. All occupants pass through this central courtyard during their daily commute, creating opportunities for spontaneous encounters and interaction — an essential feature for a knowledge-based, international company like Norwegian Petroleum.
Flexible and Agile Architecture
The office building offers strong flexibility and adaptability, allowing easy modification to meet future needs. A specially designed ceiling system enables independent workspace units as small as 3m × 3m, each with access to energy, humidity control, ventilation, and lighting. With an almost column-free interior, the space can be effortlessly reconfigured to accommodate varying numbers of workstations and meeting rooms.
Cost Efficiency and Sustainability
This distinctive building achieves exceptional cost efficiency, with an energy consumption of only 103 kWh/(m²·year). This was accomplished through several measures, including the use of remote centralized heating, an 85% energy recovery rate, and highly insulated, airtight building envelopes. The triple-glazed facade panels feature a U-value (thermal transmittance) of 0.6, significantly reducing energy loss.
Collaborative Project Delivery
Careful planning, advanced Building Information Modeling (BIM), and effective communication among architects, owners, users, contractors, and construction teams ensured the complex design was completed on schedule. The above-ground construction was finished in less than 20 months, with 2,500 workers from 30 countries on site. Due to the tight timeline, most structural elements—including steel and concrete superstructures, facades, and glass components—were prefabricated off-site and assembled using Northern Europe’s largest mobile crane.
Modern Scandinavian Design
While non-traditional in form, the new Norwegian National Oil Company office building embodies core Scandinavian values such as democracy and social equity. Its location and orientation reflect a carefully optimized design harmonizing with the surrounding environment. Inside, warm oak finishes and aluminum details interact with the soft northern light, creating a subtle yet striking contrast.
Recognition and Awards
Prior to construction, the project won the 2009 World Architecture Festival Awards (WAF) in the commercial category.
After completion, it received the 2012 World Architecture News Awards (WAN) in the business category.
It was recently nominated for the Norwegian Urban Architecture Award.
Additionally, it was shortlisted for Best Office and Commercial Development at the 2013 International Real Estate Fair Awards.
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