Library Buildings around the World

Niels Torp Architects, Oslo – Norway
http://www.nielstorp.no
Libraries:
BI Campus (Business and Economics School) Library, Oslo-Nydalen – Norway 2001 – 2005
Location: Oslo, Norway, Size: 100 000m², Client:
Awards:
Recognition: FIABI's International Property Prize 2008
European commercial Property Awards 2010
The natural lighting throughout the building along with the open walkways and courtyards all serve to create the feeling of a small
town where everybody feels at home and welcome. Architect Nils Torp’s vision is that there will be 8000 people in the building who
are constantly on the move and that this feeling of motion and activity should be conveyed to people passing by outside.
The building has been designed like an open town where, by looking up, down and sideways, you can see activity going on. Students
and lecturers can communicate openly and actively. Open terraces, galleries, small nooks and quiet areas have been created as
special meeting places to add life. Each group of students -bachelor, master and executive- has its own particular area with teaching
rooms, meeting areas and special facilities adapted to the students' needs. The building does not close anybody in, neither does it shut
anybody out. The thousands and thousands of square metres of windows let people on the outside get a feeling of the busy life going
on inside. The building is covered by a glass ceiling and comprises four blocks on seven levels. Three of the blocks are dedicated to
BI. The fourth block contains offices, shops, a health centre and a large gym.There is a strong focus on future-oriented learning at
the new BI campus. This is a place where 8000 students enjoy learning and feel inspired in their daily lives. There are now around
18,000 people going about their daily business in Nydalen. Half of these are students or staff of BI Norwegian School of Management.
(http://www.librarybuildings.info)
Oslo’s independent business and economics school ‘BI’ have established a new unified campus in Nydalen, a regenerated commercial
area in the centre of Oslo. Situated adjacent to the refurbished underground station, Campus Nydalen combinesOslo’s three
previous separate business schools at Sandvika, Schous and Ekerberg under one roof. Each school originally offered different
specialised courses, and it was an objective of BI to maintain each schools identity within the unified campus.
The new campus is a permeable, open and transparent building that exposes the activities in the building against the surrounding
streets and public spaces. In addition to its educational function, the building acts as a meeting place, and is a focal point between the
student environment and the surrounding business activities. Approximately 95,200m2 (GEA), the campus can accommodate 10-
12,000 students, tutors and administration staff. The campus is a commercial investment for BI, consisting of four buildings under
one roof, three of which are occupied by the three original schools, one specialising in Executive studies, a second specialising in
undergraduate courses in business marketing, and a third specialising in post graduate and masters courses in business studies. The
fourth building consists of commercially let shops, office space and Nydalen Athletic fitness centre.
Set within a regenerated urban environment north of the city centre, the campus occupies one large city block, and is subdivided into
four smaller blocks by two wide internal streets which slice through the campus forming a cross in plan. The building has ten levels,
consisting of three levels of underground parking and a service bay, with seven levels of the student campus above ground.
Externally a limited pallet of materials has been used to create a unified composition. The different functions of the campus are
highlighted to provide articulation to the spaces. The auditoria with their large coloured brick walls anchor the building into the site.
The library, set within its glass box on the upper levels of the building, emphasised by the horizontal lines of the solar shading cap
the building unifying it as one. The reclining northern facade facing away from the city is played down and clad in copper, whilst the
remaining facades expose the asymmetrical rhythm of the stairs and structural concrete columns to provide a vertical emphasis
which is further articulated by the timber clad classrooms rooms and offices that are allowed to puncture through the facade
between the columns.
Internally there is a hierarchical grid of streets providing a permeable network through the campus. This hierarchy is expressed in
the use of differing materials throughout. The floors to the main streets and common areas consist of polished concrete and robust
laminated timber parquet flooring. Carpet is used in the library to soften the noise, whilst vinyl is used in the remaining areas. The
two main streets cut through the campus on a north-south and east-west axis, with the main entrance facing the underground station
to the west. These streets are not only lines of communication, but also accommodate galleries of flexible areas of seating and break
out spaces providing informal meeting points for the students. The streets step down to lower ground level where they open out
creating a central room that accommodates the cafeteria. The most important communication lines are easy to read in the central
room, with the main stairs and lifts placed central at the intersection of the two streets, and this is also the departure point for an
escalator that runs up to the Library at the fifth floor.
It has been important to create meeting places with different characters. These consist of exposed galleries on the main street near to
the cafeteria, and quieter group working places and social areas in atria within each internal building, and along the facades.
The structural grid is used to define the layout of the campus. The large auditoria, classrooms and office floor plates are placed in
open areas within the wide spans of the structural columns, while stairs, riser shafts and social zones are placed around secondary
atria at the centre of each of the four individual buildings. This creates a flexible building that will be possible to be adapted to suit
the future needs of the campus, or converted for other uses. The building is layered, with the large auditoria spanning over two
floors at ground and lower ground level, classrooms located on the first floor, offices for professional and administration staff located
on the second and third floors, and the library with the best location on the fourth and fifth floors offering a panoramic view over the
city of Oslo towards the fjord. Additionally each building has undergraduate, masters and corporate study areas, each with their
own area and meting place located on first floor level in the atria area.
The vertical campus is open seven days a week, and is continuously animated by the students and staff that can be seen occupying
the meeting and breakout spaces, or in motion on the streets, stairs, bridges, escalator and arcades as they make their way to and
from their different activities. (Torp)
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