Nygårdsgaten 91-93

With the intention of creating an office building with outward-looking, audience-oriented features, the project’s team at 3RW focused on formal qualities and gradients of transparency to propose a valley-like working landscape with a generous ground floor. In a nod to its neighbours Media City and EnTek, a traditional covered passage connects the two principal volumes of the building, taking its visitors through a “three-dimensional” sequence of public and semi-public spaces. Our proposal is not resolved in plan, but sectionally: this allows a renewed experience of the ground plane as a transition zone.

 

Building upon knowledge from previous studies on this site, which included fruitful input from Bergen municipality, 3RW has assessed assess the zoning plan’s ambitions, limitations and opportunities in-house. The current design is informed by the commonplace but challenging ambition of revitalizing the area, and of attracting visitors other than the “ordinary office workers”: we envision Nygårdsgaten 91 as an architectural attraction of many identities, able to both accommodate large groups of employees and entertain tourists and cafe-goers.

Programs such as rentable conference rooms, bars, gyms and yoga studios complete the public offer. The valley floor allows for a mix of different area typologies, from start-up offices, flexible co-working places, “hot desking” to permanent workrooms, in the hope to attract students from the nearby UiB (University of Bergen), as well as other young professionals. Long and short passages through the Nygårdsgaten 91 atrium are guided by the encountered formal elements: stairs, ramps, room pockets, walls, glass partitions, portals and triple-height ceilings.

 

Knowingly resolved, the building’s technical grid allows for a great flexibility in space layout and program distribution, as well as a daylight entry complying with strict environmental requirements. It meets an energy-classification of level A, with a BREEAM certification.

 

Instead of the sharp angles often met in this area of Bergen, the façade and roof are rounded off, with the intention of creating a soft interface that binds the area’s main actors together (Nygårdsparken, SATS, the Meteorological Institute, the rotunda, Statens Vegvesen’s offices and so on). In addition to its entrance being placed towards the existing Bybanen stop, a bus terminal with bicycle parking is located at the northern end of the building, making it a visible service and destination. Nygårdsgaten 91’s light material palette recalls the young, fresh greens of the nearby park; its rooftop rooms frame splendid views of the city.

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