A new structure with a low CO2 footprint

Gullhaug Torg 5

With expressive cubic glass facades, Gullhaug torg 5 in Oslo is a large office complex featuring blue-green roofs, a terrazzo plaza at ground level, and a whole underground floor dedicated to cycle parking.

Different building blocks of a glass facade.

Facts about the project

  • Place

    Oslo, Norway

  • Contractor

    Avantor AS

  • Status:

    Completed

  • Size:

    40,000 sqm

  • Photographer:

    Michelle Äärlaht

Close up of glass facade
Glass facade of office building in the sun set.

Nominated for climate award

The 13,000 m2 office complex was completed in autumn 2022 and was quickly nominated for the Norwegian Construction Industry’s Climate Award, due to the reduced energy consumption of the glass facade, the building’s innovative use of raw materials, and its low CO2 footprint.

From the very beginning, the project had significant ambitions focused on environmental initiatives and technical innovation. Given that glass typically results in heat loss, it was by no means guaranteed that a building with a 74% glass facade would achieve an energy class A rating.

 

  • Officebuilding with glass facade with the sun set mirrored in the glass
  • Glass facade of office building and a blue sky in the background.
  • Silhouette of officebuilding with glass facade.
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Innovative glass solutions

For the first time in Norway, we utilised Heat Mirror film combined with electrochromic glass. The film replaces intermediate glass in double-glazed construction, while dynamic solar shading is laminated into the outermost glass where solar exposure is strongest. The combination of these solutions makes the building lighter and improves its U-value, a measurement for how effective a material is an insulator.

Reused materials

On the roof, there are 700 m2 of solar panels and nesting boxes for swifts. On the facade, 30% of the aluminum used has been recycled. The floors are made of recycled plastic and residual materials from parquet flooring production. The entire building has a deconstruction plan, allowing materials to be disassembled and reused.

Compared to similar buildings, Gullhaug Torg 5 has halved its greenhouse gas emissions, and half of the materials can be reused in the future. A result to be proud of.