The ground floor at Bispevika is vibrating

Strolling around Bispevika a sunny Saturday afternoon it is impossible not to feel the electric atmosphere from visitors exclaiming “wow’” around every corner. As soon as Bispevika was completed with shops and cafes, attractive tribunes and sitting areas, playgrounds, and the Munch museum right in the middle of it, it was as if the whole city suddenly could understand what the 20 year old vision for Fjordbyen had been about.

With Bispevika going live, the whole area has suddenly been tied together, from Barcode over to Sørenga and The Opera House, with a network of pathways transforming the whole harbor area into a long cultural walk. Ever since the design of the masterplan for Barcode, A-lab has been involved in designing the ground floor of Bispevika.  

To get an area to work as fluently as it does in Bispevika, you have to plan for every shop and café, and for how to get the logistics work in every detail, like how to get the groceries delivered to all of the restaurants in a car free area. Each little bench or bush is meticulously planned to make sure visitors can be able to enjoy the area even on a cold winter day. The key to make it work as fluently as it does in Bispevika, is to design everything from a human perspective.