Architecture Design Portal Building of IT-Fornebu by A-lab
November 21st, 2009 - Posted in Architecture DesignThe IT-Fornebu Portal building as it is known was developed by the IT-Fornebu Eiendom and designed by A-lab architects after winning a competition in 2004. Starting with the central hall as a main space, a new main entrance is created. New rental areas and working places add qualities that the terminal building is lacking, rather than competing with it. It is in the union of old and new that a unique project that profiles IT-Fornebu as an international IT-centre is created.
The “work platforms” are optimal arenas for each renter’s enterprise by being a tabula rasa situation. There is “nothing” between the glass in the facade, the panelled ceiling and technical flooring other than open space. The content of the room is the most important, uniquely reflected in the facade.
The building supports the development and transmission of knowledge, skills, values and ideas, as well as the opportunity for companies to express their own identity. Or identify with a new identity as may be the case may be with this vibrant development. Approximately 28,000 sq m are provided at the site which has been constructed in preparation for a predicted surge in development, making the project the heart of a new business destination for the city. Four 6-storey office blocks flank a dramatic ‘mandarin red’ cantilevered public Hub whose fully glazed front affords panoramic views from the building over the entrance. An innovative exoskeleton system creates interest for each of the 3,750 sq m blocks. Diagonal steel beams surround each block, attached every 4.8 meters with a steel joint through the facade to the floor beams creating a diamond lattice.
