Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Nordic Architecture and Design – Norway
Lilleakerbyen – a new, vibrant and sustainable district in Oslo The construction industry is behind 40 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and the use of energy and material resources. At a time when we know how important sustainability is to preserve our planet for the future, LPO architects aims to change the game through new ways of reusing old materials, turning old into new. By Hanna Andersson and Alyssa Nilsen | Photos: LPO and A-lab
The Oslo-based architecture firm has already transformed large spaces such as Vervet in Tromsø, and Vulkan and Sørenga in Oslo. From old, run-down and unfriendly areas filled with traffic, storage containers and very little to offer visitors, LPO architecture has turned them into vibrant spaces filled with people, culture, restaurants, arts and life. They’ve become tourist destinations and sought-after residential and social areas – places people want to live in and visit. The vibrant Lilleakerbyen
The culture square.
One of the firm’s current projects is at Lilleaker, a part of greater Oslo, right on the border between Oslo and Bærum. This area has an old industrial history, but today it’s defined by offices and a dark shopping centre completely disconnected from its surroundings. The project, dubbed Lilleakerbyen, aims to tie the two suburban parts of the city together and create a lively district for both living and working.
“The project was commissioned by family-owned company Mustad Eiendom and developed in collaboration with Civitas, A-Lab and Leonard Design. The intention is to cultivate the identity and distinctiveness of the area, turning it into a lively, welcoming and accessible place filled with residential housing, commercial trade, working spaces, sports and culture – a community with great living spaces and social arenas.” “Lilleakerbyen will be a destination, a place people would like to visit. We want to create a district of Oslo that is vibrant and full of life both day and night,” says Hilde Lillejord, communications advisor at LPO. Part of the project vision is about opening up the shopping centre, moving the shops outside and into classic pedestrian streets with restaurants, cosy cafés and parks. To achieve this, traffic and deliveries to the shops are moved underground, November 2021 | Issue 136 | 39
