Veksthuset
Photos: Are Carlsen, Espen Grønli and Jean-Pierre Mesinele
Veksthuset
An office out of the ordinary
Veksthuset is one of three projects that makes up Urtekvartalet, a new quarter located between Grønland, the city center and Grünerløkka. This transformation project aims to bridge these areas by creating a vibrant new urban space at Grønland, contributing significantly to the area‘s development with a focus on inclusivity and social sustainability.
TYPE OF PROJECT: Office
LOCATION: Grønland, Oslo
CLIENT:Eiendomsspar AS
COLLABORATORS: SOLA (LARK)
SIZE: 24 000 m2
TIMEFRAME: 2018-2024
STATUS: Completed in 2024
Whilst Fabrikken and Drivhuset, the two other projects in Urtekvartalet, are transformation projects, Veksthuset is a new building covering 24,000 m² with 8 stories above ground and to sub-ground levels. The top floor features a large, shared roof terrace with a kitchen, while the ground floor level includes reception, foyer, serving area in addition to several outward-facing commercial spaces. The first underground level houses a large meeting along with various support functions, while the second underground level provides parking for cars and bicycles. With its unique design and exceptional build quality, Veksthuset is a landmark building that strengthens the area's identity.
Architectural statement
Urtepassasjen
At the heart of Urtekvartalet lies the diagonal Urtepassasjen, a pedestrian street that connects Nordbygata and Urtegata. Towards the city center, the passage opens up to form a square with a café and grocery store. With outdoor seating and a vibrant café atmosphere, the square will activate the area and draw people in from the busy Nylandsveien.
The main entrances of the three buildings are all located towards this central square, making it easy for visitors to navigate while enhancing the synergy between the different user groups in Urtekvartalet, including students from Høyskolen i Kristiania and Sweco employees.
Overall, the goal has been to create a green urban space with outward-facing ground floors, resulting in a new, vibrant, inclusive, socially sustainable, and car-free district, complete with neighborhood offices and upgraded, renewed surrounding streets.
Volume façade and façade concept
The concept for Veksthuset comes from voxels, three dimensional pixels that are stacked in a staggered pattern. The cubic elements vary in size, protruding and recessing across the façade. This dynamic composition allows the building to adapt to the scale of surroundings by breaking the large volume into smaller elements and gradually tapering at the corners to align with the heights of neighboring structures. Furthermore, a playful silhouette is created towards the sky and on the ground floor, varied and sheltered outdoor spaces sits underneath the protruded façade.
The voxel structure enables a fine-tuning of the building’s volume based on key parameters such as daylight access, spatial efficiency, and the ideal footprint in relation to the urban fabric of Urtepassasjen.
The façade is composed of two primary materials: anodized aluminum panels for the voxel structure and a dark brick base. The warm red tones of the façade are achieved with copper-colored anodized aluminum, which produces a dynamic surface that shifts in hue depending on the weather and time of day. The textured brick at the base contrasts with the smooth aluminum, visually grounding the building with its dense, dark surface.
To create a varied ground-floor experience and extend the urban environment vertically, the transition between aluminum and brick alternates between the first and second floors and between the second and third floors.
Together with the adjacent building, Fabrikken - also part of Urtekvartalet - the protruding volume creates a visual gateway, drawing pedestrians from the main street into the diagonal passage at the heart of Urtekvartalet. Here, small pocket spaces with greenery and seating areas create inviting places to pause, seamlessly integrating with the surrounding shopfronts.
Common areas
Due to the diagonal pedestrian street running through Urtekvartalet, Veksthuset's footprint is wider towards Urtegata than Nordbygata. At its broadest point, an indoor atrium extends from level U1 to the top floor. In addition to bringing daylight into the office spaces, the atrium serves as the central circulation hub, featuring a striking staircase in deep green steel.
On the ground floor, the atrium intersects with a horizontal axis that spans the building, connecting Urtepassasjen with Lakkegata. Along this axis, you’ll find the main entrance and shared common areas, including the lobby, café, and canteen. At the junction of these two axes, a visual connection is established between the lobby and the meeting center on level U1. Spanning this space is a steel footbridge, finished in the same deep green hue as the central staircase. Together, these two architectural elements become focal points of the public ground floor, helping to define and organize the interior layout of the building.
Interior
The interior features a simple yet cohesive material palette. In addition to the striking green central staircase and footbridge, the most distinctive element in the common area is the oak-paneled ceiling. Divided into sections framed by the building’s pillars, the ceiling enhances the sense of scale while adding warmth. The combination of generous ceiling height, oak finishes, and the framing creates an atmosphere that is both grand and inviting, subtly segmenting the spacious lobby into more intimate zones.
Complementing this, the walls and terrazzo flooring are finished in warm grey tones, visually linking the space to the exposed concrete core while serving as a neutral backdrop for the vibrant green metal staircase and rich oak ceiling.
Connection to urban context
Along the façade facing Lakkegata, several spacious light wells extend from the ground floor down to level U1. These openings not only provide glimpses into the heart of the building from the street but also bring natural light into the meeting center and underground kitchen area. For the meeting center, the light wells serve a dual purpose, creating comfortable breakout spaces between meeting rooms.
Veksthuset’s ground floor hosts a range of outward-facing service amenities, including a café, grocery store, and Sweco’s neighborhood office. Each of these establishments has its own entrance, contributing to the activation of Urtepassasjen. The staggered floor plan, shaped by the voxel concept, ensures that each façade maintains a distinct and individual character. This design contrasts with the expansive panoramic glass façade of the college on the opposite side of Veksthuset. Despite the building’s large footprint, this approach helps break down the scale of the passage, transforming it into a more intimate, small-scale street environment with inviting pocket spaces.
Office Spaces
The combination of the building’s large footprint and the voxel concept results in spacious, airy office areas while naturally breaking up the floor space into smaller zones. Except in the corridor zones near the core, the ceiling is raised all the way up to the underside of the slab, with exposed suspended technical installations. Together with the large windows, this creates a unique sense of openness. The voxel concept also provides a diverse range of views, both towards Urtepassasjen and out over Akerselva and Elgsletta.
To further enhance the spatial experience, the raised ceiling and technical installations are kept light in color, while areas closer to the core and meeting rooms feature a more varied palette with warm, darker tones. Near the atrium, oak elements are incorporated to connect the materiality of the office and common areas. Each floor facing the atrium includes a small kitchen and long table with views towards the main staircase, fostering interaction between different levels and professional fields.
Between the third and fourth floors, a large amphitheater-style seating area has been integrated. Positioned next to a double-voxel in the façade, this space features expansive glass panels offering views across Urtepassasjen between Veksthuset and the college. Here, employees and students can draw inspiration from one another, reinforcing the developer’s vision of creating a dynamic urban quarter that brings together a diverse range of users.
Sustainability
Veksthuset is environmentally certified with BREEAM Excellent and has an energy rating of A. High sustainability ambitions from both the developer and the tenant have ensured a continuous focus on Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) when selecting materials, building quality, and airtightness. Additional measures include optimizing logistics in façade production and retaining a significant portion of stormwater on the roof, reducing the need for underground retention basins.