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Transformation of a substation

Through five years of voluntary work, Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter and their neighbours have realised the dream of a community house for a tenement housing quarter in Oslo.

By Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter AS
Published 03 Oct, 2013
 
The substation after transformation. The electrical installations have been moved and the building has become a social centre for the housing community. Photo: Katrine Nordli

The substation after transformation. The electrical installations have been moved and the building has become a social centre for the housing community.
Photo: Katrine Nordli

The electricity substation in quarter VIII of the Torshovbyen housing complex, 1925.

Architects Haugen/Zohar mapped the demography of the residents of the housing complex, both for the planning of the communal house and to find people with the skills needed to realise the project.

Section through the courtyard. Before (Top) and after (bottom). The substation was moved to an underground bunker.

The substation before refurbish­ment, ripe with possibilities.

Invitations to new activities: Olympics!
Graphic design by local resident Vibeke Friis Knutzen.

Invitations to new activities: Opera!
Graphic design by local resident Vibeke Friis Knutzen.

Axonometric showing the connection between the different elements, and who has contributed to the practical realisation.

After five years of work, the housing block has its own little community centre. The building is in use 75% of the week.

From the five-year planning- and construction period.

The Trafo guest book after a children's birthday party: "Thank God for the Trafo, we would never have been able to do this at home!"
Photo: Katrine Nordli

At the heart of a backyard of a housing complex from 1920, a former electricity substation, a transformer, had been locked for 85 years. With the help of a lot of the local residents, architects Haugen/Zohar initiated a project to move the electrical plant into an underground bunker and transform the substation building into a shared common room for the block.

Today, the 75 sq.m. building contains a common room, kitchen, bathroom and a mezzanine for overnight guests. The "Trafo" is used for 75% of the week, and hosts all kind of events for all ages.

Facts:

Address: Mastrups gate 11, Oslo
Architects: Haugen/Zohar Arkitekter AS
Gross area: 75 sq.m.
Completed: 2012
Photo: Katrine Nordli, residents, the architects

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