Plan
LØRENSKOG
Categories
Landscape, Architecture, Residential building, Student housing, Winterpark
Typology
Residential building
Status
2016 - Volume study
Location
Ødegårds vei 14, Lørenskog, Norway
Size
14 111m2, 129 housing units
Construction
Modular building
Customer
Section
West facade
South facade
ABOUT
The Lørenskog project is part of a large architectural concept - Lorenskog Vinterpark, located in a mountain area near Oslo. This complex consists of a covered ski slope (the first of its kind in Norway), which is its main and most important element, and a number of complementary facilities, such as a commercial center, a sports training center, a hotel, a parking lot and a residential area.
The project of housing part was distinctly defined in the general plan, which imposed a numerous ideological, areal and shaping requirements. The second factor that most determines the form of newly designed objects is the topography of the terrain. The location of the buildings on a mountain slope with significant differences of height up to a dozen or so meters, forced many unusual spatial solutions and significantly influenced the form of it.
Heavy and massive solid with elongated shape seems to climb up with the hill on which it is located. Its organic and irregular form perfectly fits into the mountainous landscape. The various height of individual buildings and the patchy shape of the roofs and the viewing terraces on them, duplicate and continue the line of the mountain hill, which slopes in two directions: north southern and east western, uncovering the building from each side in a different way and with a different extent. This following the uneven and irregular form of terrain, makes architecture also imitates its features - it is futile to look for a monotonous rhythm or any repeatability in the facade. Although the entirety is quite compact and massive, it is not static in its form due to uneven divisions and individual shaping of particular elements of a project.
This what greatly diversify and unweight the mass are divisions that partition the compact massif into smaller parts. The project consists of three blocks, two of which are connected to each other by a staircase that forms a kind of clearance between them and lead the light inside. This effect is achieved through the use of specific screen walls that on various floors connect buildings B and C, and simultaneously partially cover or open them. In order to enhance this impression of dynamics, additional divisions were also applied within individual blocks, what mask rather compact and geometric layout of flats. In addition, the solid seems to be more sculpturesque also thanks to irregular arrangement of balconies and a large number of small windows, which optimally illuminate functionally planned apartments.
The residential part numbers 175 apartments for students (block A and C) and other residents (block B). Student apartments are slightly smaller than those planned for families and do not always have balconies. In accordance with the imposed requirements apartments in the block intended for families are all equipped with the individual balconies. This distinction has allowed the facade to be freely shaped, what in combination with the main idea of the project creates a very interesting visual effect. The skiing hall was supposed to resemble a glacier sliding down the mountain slopes, while the hotel and residential buildings were planned to be irregular walls of a glacierbed. From this comes not only the form of new-designed architecture, but also its coloring. Elevations are finished with wood, in brown, in a vertical arrangement. Some of balconies that take the form of cube push oneself forward with the smooth dark charcoal grey colour on a uniform wooden background. Natural materials in neutral colors refer to the colors of the surrounding nature. The limited and very spare palette of colors combined with a very expressive and clear form creates an interesting and attractive architecture that does not overwhelm with excess of used aesthetic solutions.
Keeping the right proportions of applying divisions, rhythms and the use of ornaments has created a distinct and coherent architecture that not only provides a great background for the main building, but also an architecture very skillfully embedded in a context that on its own offers excellent quality both functional and aesthetic.
