Bjørvika Brannstasjon

The new Fire Station is quiet but with a delicate presence. As an autonomous figure, it represents a highly functional building reflecting its functioning organs. It is careful to address the fragmented site setting up a continuation of waterfront buildings while enhancing the dignity of the back street. The verticality and scale of the fire truck hall define the forecourt that converses with Oslo’s harbour whilst a more restrained and composed volume greets the back allowing pedestrianised access. 

The symmetrical configuration affords an efficiency intensified by the flanking cores defining two halves - allowing functional and symbolical adjacencies. The understated palette of steel structure and concrete breeze blocks exudes a utilitarian atmosphere playing second fiddle to the lives of the firemen. Steel panels clad the building like feathers ambiguously acting as screens and canopies that extend the view from within.