An innovative ‘regenerative highrise’ in Oslo’s inner suburbs, which vertically links river, metro, rail and street.Haptic GreenLiveNorwayTimber
Qualify
Conceive
Refine
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Historical-Photo-930x524.jpg)
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Site-photos-canal-aerial-930x523.jpg)
Grønland is a multi-cultural inner suburb of Oslo, Norway’s capital, located to the east of the city centre.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Site-plan-graphic-930x698.jpg)
The local metro station sits close to the point where the Akerselva river emerges from culvert beneath the main railway station, and has huge potential for development as a place to live and work, linking to cycle and river walks.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Site-photos-7-scaled-930x698.jpg)
Haptic’s ‘regenerative highrise’ uses large-scale development to take advantage of this potential, repairing part of an inner-city neighbourhood.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Site-photos-2-scaled-930x698.jpg)
Our proposed tower creates a vertical link between existing and developing transport networks – including electric ferries along the Akerselva – with active frontages on three levels: to the canal and metro below, to the high street, and at viaduct level.
A diverse range of functions within the tower – commercial, leisure and residential – increase its social sustainability, and ensures it makes a positive contribution to urban life.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Programme-axo-930x698.jpg)
The tower itself seeks to address the challenge of waste in the construction industry, and is composed as a series of ‘maxi-floors’ – innovative, three-storey-high structural decks which allow the tower to be reprogrammed over time, according to the social and economic conditions.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_progress-render-view-scaled-930x523.jpg)
As the pandemic of 2020/21 has shown, space needs can change suddenly, and our ‘regenerative highrise’ can be adapted with ease, from offices to hotel, from residential to production or leisure.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_progress-view-across-the-canal-scaled-930x523.jpg)
This strategy means the tower is highly flexible in use, and robust enough to withstand changes of use which usually considerably limit the lifespan of tall buildings.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Elevation-A-scaled-930x1240.jpg)
The engineering philosophy moves away from a traditional static structure, the superstructure including a hard permanent floor every three levels, with soft, flexible three-storey volumes between.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Elevation-B-scaled-930x1240.jpg)
The hard floors have a composite timber construction using recycled steel frame elements. The soft floors accommodate modular plug-and-play components that can range from elemental structures to full volumetric, prefinished elements.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Section-drawing-scaled-930x1240.jpg)
The building services also maximise flexibility, with a hierarchy of centralised and decentralised systems. Backbone utilities of power, data, water and drainage are centralised; the remaining systems are housed locally on the hard floors.
![](https://hapticarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Hapticarch_Oslo_High_Rise_Zoomed-in-plan-scaled-930x930.jpg)