Opera & Ballet, Oslo, NO | 2003

The building has around 38 500 m² and more than 1 100 rooms, spread over 4 levels and a basement, divided in following sections 

• the public area with access from the area adjacent to Oslo Central Station, encompasses the foyer, and 3 auditoriums, where the main auditorium has seating for up to 1 350 people. The Main auditorium is a classic horseshoe shaped opera theatre with a high-level ceiling designed to strict acoustic requirements. The foyer area is a large, open room with varied natural lighting and fine views of the fjord and Hovedøya
• the stages - the Opera House has one of the most modern and technologically advanced opera stages in the world. The 35 m high stage tower is located above the main stage, allowing for complicated theatre-technical solutions
• the production section contains workshops, stores, rehearsal rooms, cloakrooms, offices and audition rooms
• the roof landscape is open to the public. The horizontal and sloping roofs express monumentality and give the building a dramatically different appearance than its neighbours. The cladding of the roof landscape is made with white Italian marble that adds a brilliant artistic effect to the building envelope

The Opera House functions as a link between the historic downtown Oslo to the west and the Ekeberg hills to the east. It is a cornerstone in the development of a completely new borough. For decades Bjørvika was known for its harbour activities and heavy traffic. The final goal is to convert this part of the City into a vibrant and attractive area for commercial use, dwellings and cultural activities. A premise for this development was the transfer of the E18 motorway into a submerged tunnel passing under Bjørvika.

The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) imposed very strict rules for the handling of the polluted soil. Approximately 12 000 m3 of polluted mass were removed, sorted in accordance with degree of pollution and disposed of accordingly. In addition, an area of approximately 20 000 m2 of polluted ground was sealed off by a minimum of 50 cm of clean sand filling. A total of 90 000 tonnes of polluted materials was excavated and transported to the approved depot on Langøya near Holmestrand. 

The project was carried out in close cooperation with the final user, Den Norske Opera, which is Norway’s largest music and stage arts institution. It is the national producer and presenter of opera, ballet, music and dance theatre and concerts.

Extra challenge: archeological remains 

Bjørvika is filled with a several metre thick layer of sawdust and chippings from the sawmills that operated along the Aker River as early as the 16^th century. This layer helped conserving objects lying on the bottom. Many boats and other artefacts lie under what is now dry land. An important premise for the building permit was thus that the site was to be thoroughly inspected and surveyed for archaeological finds. Archaeologists were present at the building site watching over every single grab load removed. A total of 2 000 large and small objects were found during this phase of the construction works. 

Awards 

The national Opera received the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award 2009, a joint initiative of the European Commission and the Fundació Mies van der Rohe.