Kanthaugen Freestyle Arena

H å k o n H a l l
Håkon Hall is Norway’s largest
sports hall with a seating capacity of
9 500 persons, and room for about
1 000 persons in the stands. The
hall is owned by Lillehammer
Utvikling through the subsidiary
Håkon Hall AS.
The site for the arena was decided by LOOC on 1 December
1989. In April 1990, the decision was approved by the
Norwegian parliament, which granted NOK 189 million for
construction. With an additional financial contribution of NOK
3 million from the Paralympics organisation, the total
construction budget was NOK 192 million.
During the winter of 1990/1991, the hall was given a “facelift”
which together with some structural changes and the
installation of various energy economisation measures
increased construction costs to NOK 230 million. The final
economic contribution was therefore as follows: NOK 12.2
million from the post-Olympic fund, NOK 3 million from
Paralympics and the rest from the government.
T e c h n i c a l d a t a
The arena is located close to downtown Lillehammer in the
Olympic Park. The roof of the hall consists of four separated
shell elements, and the entire facility is built deep into the
ground. This means that despite its 40-metre-high ceiling and
15 000 m 2 roof surface area, the hall does not appear – from
the outside – as a monumental construction.
The main contractor for the work was AS Veidekke, who
completed construction on 1 February 1993. The final costs
were NOK 238 million (including work to the facade).
The roof construction consists of double trussed beams in
glue-laminate wood; the longest beam is 85.4 metres.
The hall has excellent acoustics.
Extensive use of transparent polycarbonate sheets and
wood in the ceiling and roof provides plenty of light in the
hall. The hall has a total length of 127 metres and a surface
area of 23 000 m 2 . The amphi-shaped stands are telescopic.
During the design phase, one goal was to give the building
a classic design, with great care given to the use of colours.