Havnelageret

Havnelageret (also known as Oslo Havnelager) is a commercial building located at Langkaia 1 in Oslo, Norway. It houses Norwegian Defence Estates Agency as tenants. The Norwegian Intelligence Service also has its source archive (kildearkivet) there.[1][2][3]

Havnelageret in November 2006.
Havnelageret illuminated at night
Havnelageret after the renovation

History

The building was erected in the period 1916-20 and designed by architect Bredo Henrik Berntsen.[4] Havnelageret was dedicated to the huge development of ship transport during and after the First World War. The construction of the building was challenging and extremely difficult with contemporary technology, and with rising prices and wages during the First World War, all calculations were surpassed. From the original amount of 3.2 million Norwegian kroner, the final cost ended up at 9.3 million kroner.[5]

Construction of Havnelageret was very complicated because the building had to be built on bedrock as a result of its large size. This bedrock lay 20 meters below ground level. The difficult base conditions delayed the construction process, but in 1920, Havnelageret was finally based on the 130 pillars, which laid on 1550 piles in total. When finished, the building was so substantial that the 4th floor of Havnelageret was used as an air-raid shelter during the Second World War.[5]

The building has an outside surface of concrete. When Havnelageret was completed in 1921, it was the largest concrete building in Europe and the largest building in the Nordic countries.[6] The building had 11 floors, a tower and an area of 39 708 m² in its original form. The external dimensions were reduced by dividing up the facade with crane hunts, rises and towers. When it comes to style, the building can be placed into the group of Nordic Neo-Baroque with classical elements and details of Art Nouveau feel. In 1965 the building was awarded the Betongtavlen (an annual Norwegian prize for outstanding building architecture in concrete).

It took only 60 years before Havnelageret was considered old. In the recent decades the harbour activity has decreased steadily. As a result, there has also been less demand for storage space, and current needs are mostly met outside the quay area itself. After a total renovation in 1983 (carried out by the firm Arkitektene as), the "Jacob's dream" re-emerged; a pink-coloured office building filled by financiers, ship companies and oil companies. Because of its unusual color, the building is often called "The pink palace in Bjørvika".[6] In late 2003, Entra Eiendom bought Langkaia 1 from Steen & Strøm ASA and had it thoroughly renovated in the following years.[7]

References
  1. Dagbladet's headquarters in Havnelageret (In Norwegian)
  2. Norwegian Armed Forces with several subdivisions in the building (In Norwegian)
  3. Tidligere forsvarsminister fikk aldri vite om E-tjenestens kildearkiv
  4. Torvanger, Åse Moe. "Bredo Berntsen". Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Kunskapsforlaget. Retrieved 30 November 2009.
  5. The history of Havnelageret Archived 2010-12-13 at the Wayback Machine (In Norwegian)
  6. Havnelageret at bygg.no (In Norwegian)
  7. Renovation of the Havnelager building in Oslo Archived 2010-03-29 at the Wayback Machine (In English)
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