Space Group have completed a comprehensive transformation of a former industrial site by the Akerselva River. The tree parts of the project are connected by a central open space, for new meetings and unprogrammed use.
Nedre gate 5-7, Oslo. The original industrial structures, now protected, were designed by Ove Ekman and Einar Smith and built from 1896-99.
Ny York kindergarten. The kindergarten, completed in 2009, is part of the total transformation project.
See the presentation of the kindergarten here.
Office and exhibition space for OCA, Office for Contemporary Art. Completed in 2009.
Space Group has transformed the old protected industrial buildings by the Akerselva River into part of one of the new cultural axes of Oslo, a new cultural powerhouse where art, culture and film production can meet.
The development is in three parts: Signal Media House, Office for Contemporary Art (OCA) and Ny York kindergarten. All three are connected to the public realm through an unprogrammed open space, which gives room for collective and individual activities and rich use and interaction.
The project preserves and reinterprets the historic parts of the architecture, whilst clearly defining both new and old. In the most recent part of the project, the Signal Media House, a new glazed roof structure covers a “Vertigo Space” that connects all the main functions of the building and brings light down to the deepest parts, the basement cinema and film production areas.
The buildings are heated and cooled by a combination of heat wells and air-to-air heat pumps. The spatially open solution allows an efficient system of displacement ventilation, reducing the need for conduit. Internal blinds form part of the extract system and help control heat gain and heat loss beneath the new glazed roof.