The design for Statoil regional office building is a linear display of the tenants is an ambitious and courageous project.

The building is located in Fornebu, in the former Oslo Airport Norway, house for the new Business centre for information technology companies, The area is experiencing a surge in development, transforming a previously Airport into a new city-wide destination for business. The Statoil regional office has approximately 65,500 m2, is been developed by the IT-Fornebu Eiendom and designed by A-lab architects.

Statoil Regional Office, render courtesy A-Lab

a-lab was commissioned to develop the building, after winning the competition in 2008, competing against 45 other projects.

Ambitions

How to minimize the massive impact of 65 500m2 in the area? How to create a building that not just responds to the contextual issues, but that is capable of introducing a new impulse in IT-Fornebu? How to create a new identity/ icon for Statoil? Can we turn the constraints into exciting conditions? Can we create an office machine with the qualities providing an effective, efficient and healthy workplace, enhance communications and give a flexible layout?

Statoil Regional Office, render courtesy A-Lab

Criterias

The collocation project represents the beginning of a new era for Statoil’s international operations, joining disparate parts of the organisation, currently housed in several different locations with Oslo, in one office. The building design draws on the oil industry's own contruction forms and techniques. By setting extremely challenging energy requirements for the building, Statoil aims to lead Norway and the world in a new generation of energy conscious office buildings. The physical manifestation of these requirements ultimately result in an iconic building solution, creating a new landmark within the Oslo fjord landscape.

Statoil Regional Office, diagram courtesy A-Lab

Concept

In the design a-lab prioritised the synergy of the volume and the context.

One of the main preconditions for the scheme is that the footprint has to fit inside the footprint of the existing multi-storey car-park. This is achieved by breaking the homogenous office program into five equally sized lamellas, itch are dimensioned in order to get the most flexible office plans. The stacking of these then creates sight-lines between an minimizes the visual impact of the height required to fit the program within the tight site area. The primacy of the park is ensured by allowing the office lamellas to cantilever beyond the basic footprint.

The in-between space created by the staking of the lamellas, is transformed in to a public covered "square" where all the activities came across. Is a monumental atrium, accommodating the public programs and the main circulation.

In the Façade, the further sub-division into prefabricated elements each in turn composed of 15 “pixels” introduces a human scale whilst simultaneously creating a pattern linked to the structure, legible as a “giant-order” from afar.

The office machine provides innumerable possibilities for configuring the workspace, both at the individual level and as a whole within the organisation. The arrangement of the social cores within the overall framework of the circulation promotes positive interaction between employees, teams and departments. Optimalisation of the facades ensures the visual connection with the surrounding landscape, fjord and city in the distance.

Statoil Regional Office, image courtesy A-Lab

+ STATOIL Oslo Offices under construction

Construction continues apace on Statoil's new office at Fornebu, Oslo.

Since January Skanska Norway have been progressing the above-ground works, building the superstructure at a rate of about one office lamella per month. Each lamell is 140m long and 12,5m/3 storeys high. Whilst the steel truss sections for the upper lamellas are being lifted into place by Northern Europe's largest mobile crane, prefabricated façade elements produced in central Sweden are being mounted on the lower lamellas.

Statoil Regional Office, image courtesy A-Lab

Steel superstructure

Each 140m truss is divided into 5 sections. Each 100 tonne section is welded together on site using prefabricated steel members that are delivered by lorry from Finland. The sections are then welded together in situ, inside welding "nests" hanging high up in the superstructure, before the temporary underpinning is removed. The steel subcontractor is the Finnish Ruukki corporation.

Statoil Regional Office, render courtesy A-Lab

Facades

The prefabricated façade is being delivered by Flex facades from Sweden using bespoke profiles from Schüco. Each element spans one storey and is 3m wide. The geometry of the facades has been developed to allow for fully integrated external solar shading. This has introduced a verticality to the façade which is solved with a continuous vertical cover profile every meter. These provide fixing for the cladding cassettes and a guide track for the blinds. The glazed panels are triple-glazed units with a U-value of 0,6 W/(m²K).

The scale and drama of the spaces created under the cantilevers is breathtaking and points in the direction of a remarkable achievement for both the client, IT Fornebu, and the architect, A-lab. The project won the Future commercial prize at the 2009 World Architecture Festival. Total area approx. 115 000 sqm, including 65 500 sqm above ground office space and 50 000 below ground parking and technical areas.

Constraints

The tight constraints of the actual site and footprint generate the dramatic volumetric composition. The extremely compressed procurement timescale (completion September 2012) is already leading to the development of new methods for prefabricating low U-value facades on a large scale, somewhat ironically using some materials and methods from the aerospace industry.

Statoil Regional Office - L1 floor plan, drawing courtesy A-Lab

Statoil Regional Office - L2 floor plan, drawing courtesy A-Lab

Statoil Regional Office - L3 floor plan, drawing courtesy A-Lab

+ Project credits / data

Project: Statoil Regional Office
Location: Oslo, Norway
Function: Office
Build cost: 1,500 mill NOK
Total floor area: 117 000 m2
Stories: 9
Structure: Steel and concrete (prefabricated)
Finish: glass and aluminium composite panels
Completion: September 2012

Client: IT-Fornebu Eiendom
Architect: a-lab | http://www.a-lab.no/
Interior design: a-lab
Landscape design: Østengen & Bergo
Structural engineer: Norconsult
M&E services: Electro : Føyn Consult / Ventilation : Norconsult
3D: Placebo Effects for A-lab
Photos: Jiri Havran

+ All images and drawings courtesy a-lab

Design collaboration drives retail experience

Xocolatti is a new premium chocolate brand, opening its first flagship location in New York City’s Soho. With architectural design by De-Spec and branding by Exit Creative Company, Xocolatti is poised to become the new definition of luxury chocolate – “Chocolate reimagined.”

A true collaboration between De-Spec and Exit, the Xocolatti project is the demonstration of creative disciplines merging to engineer a retail space utilizing good design as its epicenter. The intersection of architecture, environmental design and graphic design has informed not only the design and layout of the store, but also the systems and operations of the store itself, as it relates to both the staff and the customer experience.

Render courtesy De-spec

De-Spec’s concept for the 150sf space lies in eliminating the traditional barriers of a storefront and creating a vitrine-like space that seamlessly integrates with the streetscape. Inside, each wall features a custom-designed, floor-to-ceiling bronze shelving system that acts as both storage and display for the iconic green and brown chocolate boxes. The resulting design is bold, graphic and sophisticated.

Render courtesy De-spec

Together, the two firms created the glowing lightboxes featuring each product, inviting customers to explore and interact with the living wall grid. Exit was also responsible for redesigning the Xocolatti identity to a more modern and refined aesthetic, and rolling out all aspects of brand communications, including new packaging, marketing collateral, signage, window graphics, photography, brand language and e-commerce website.

+ Designer: De-spec | http://www.de-spec.com/

The Meridian First Light is Victoria University of Wellington's entry into the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011. It is the first entry from the Southern hemisphere to compete in the Solar Decathlon. The Meridian First Light house was built in Wellington, New Zealand earlier this year and shipped to the U.S.

Image courtesy Victoria University of Wellington

Image courtesy Victoria University of Wellington

+ About the Meridian First Light house

The exterior cladding and timber canopy are made from Western Red Cedar, which is naturally durable, light weight and stable in a variety of climates – an important consideration for a house that needed to be transported across the tropics. The canopy is a key feature of the design, sitting above the water proof layer it gives the house style and aesthetic interest and is also functional.

The canopy provides independent support for the 6 kW solar array consisting of 28 polycrystalline photovoltaic panels and 40 evacuated tube solar collectors. Essentially creating a second roof means the membrane roof below remains uncompromised by the supports for the PV panels. In the warmer seasons the canopy provides shade to the large windows below.

The rich mixture of natural wood tones gives the Meridian First Light house a classic New Zealand timber aesthetic. The horizontal cladding is fixed to the modules using an innovative detachable cladding system designed by the Victoria University team.

Image courtesy Victoria University of Wellington

Image courtesy Victoria University of Wellington

+ About the Solar Decathlon

The Solar Decathlon challenges 20 university teams from around the world to design, build and operate a solar-powered house. The competition provides participants with hands-on training, fosters inter-disciplinary collaboration, inspires innovation and research, and educates the public about the many benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency. The New Zealand team will be competing against teams from the US, China, Canada and Belgium.

Drawing courtesy Victoria University of Wellington

+ All images and drawing courtesy Victoria University of Wellington