Planning proposal for Grønlikaia is pushing the process further.
Team A-lab is one of five teams that have submitted material for an overall planning proposal for the development of the entire Grønlikaia, which has now been submitted to the Planning and Building Authority in Oslo.
Grønlikaia is located east of Sørenga in Bjørvika. The area enjoys long evening sun and panoramic views of the city and the Oslo Fjord. A new district with 1,500 homes, 3,000 workplaces and over 1 kilometer of new harbor promenade will be built here. With a development volume of 208,000 m2, Grønlikaia accounts for around a quarter of the total urban development in Bjørvika.
The development of Grønlikaia has already been underway for over six years. After a long user involvement process with input from the city's population, an international architectural competition was announced in 2022. More than 118 teams applied to help develop the five subareas of Grønlikaia. 16 interdisciplinary teams were selected to work on the project and out of these, five teams were selected to do the work that has now been submitted to the planning authorities: Team A-lab, Team Adept, Team LPO arkitekter, Team Tegnestuen Vandkunsten and Team Norconsult. Rodeo arkitekter is the zoning architect.
“-The submission of the plan proposal marks that we are on the upstream side of the zoning work that has been going on for the past 5 years. Important milestones still remain, but this comprehensive plan proposal gives a good picture of how fantastic this can be for the entire city.”
A look at the material that has now been submitted reveals that Grønlikaia will have five distinct sub-areas with different qualities and identities.
Team A-lab, which consist of Ooze landscape, Natural State, Bollinger+Grohmann, Sweco, Resiqel, Its Tomorrow, Institutt for biovitenskap, Stokkøya and A-lab, are behind the development of Verket. This plot is located in the far north of Grønlikaia and will be the gateway to the new fjord city area. The 3,000 workplaces will be located here, in combination with a selection of homes and a new quayside for boats. Verket will be an urban meeting place with restaurants and cafés and will create a diagonal connection to and from Gamlebyen.
“This will be an important corner towards the city and it is therefore important to succeed with the development of the first floors. We have used our in-house expertise in the development of urban landscapes to design a solution that emphasises how the area is perceived from eye level in terms of everything from urban spaces to sightlines and the natural surroundings. With the pier edge down towards the water, boating life will once again be drawn right into the bay and we look forward to seeing how city life and pier life will interact here.”
Hav Eiendom is the first property developer in the world to develop a methodology for social and ecological sustainability based on Kate Raworth's Doughnut economics. Known as doughnut economics in Norwegian.
An important step in the plan is, for example, to put the buildings on piles instead of filling in masses in the water. This allows the seawater to flow freely, which is important for life in the fjord. ‘With this major development project, we have the opportunity to improve the currently limited natural values in the sea and on land. The structures established in the sea will be used for measures that promote marine ecological diversity locally. One example is to incorporate artificial reefs and vegetation into the structures to create new habitats for marine life. This can be done by attaching specially designed structures to the piles that facilitate the growth of algae and shellfish. The measures will increase biodiversity, strengthen the fjord's ecosystem and contribute to a more robust and healthy marine environment.
It is expected that the city council will be able to consider the case during 2025/2026 and construction will start in 2026/2027.
“It’s about finding the balance between human needs and the earth’s carrying capacity.”
