NRK Tøyen

In this project I was tasked with designing a new building for NRK, the state-owned TV channel and news outlet. The structure was placed on Sirkusplassen in Oslo, at Tøyen, between Tøyenparken and Oslo’s Botanical Garden. The building needed to accommodate around 42,000 square meters of program.

Because of the large size of the building, I chose to dig much of the structure down into the ground. This allowed the project to be more humane towards its surroundings, working with the Botanical Garden rather than casting a shadow over it. This move also created a public street running through the middle of the project. The area previously felt quite dark, open, and somewhat unsafe, but the new street would hopefully create a safer and more active space for people to move through. The street also serves as the main entrance to the public auditoriums and the office buildings.

Inside the building, the spaces are open between several levels, creating visual and spatial communication across the building. At the same time, there are enclosed offices and meeting rooms that allow for more privacy. The internal program helps shape the outer facades, where boxes with seating niches appear in different sizes depending on the needs of the spaces inside.