With a total of 115,000 sq m (1.2 million sq ft), it would be easy to dominate the surroundings through its sheer size. However, the Statoil office in Fornebu, just west of Oslo, is both spacious and architecturally intriguing. The shape, inspired by pick-up sticks, comprises five rectangular buildings, known as lamellar structures, stacked on one another, with the highest piece placed diagonally. Each lamellar structure measures 140 by 12.5 meters (459 by 41 feet) and contains three floors. About 30 meters (98 feet) of the stacked structures form a protruding overhang. In addition to air and volume, the overhangs provide space for five terraces on which Statoil employees can take a break and view the Oslo fjord.
The assignment was one of Norway's biggest building projects and, considering its size, also one of the fastest. A mere 20 months after the contract was signed, the building was finished and had been transferred.
"Usually a construction project is hectic in the beginning and at the end but smooth in the middle. Here it's been hectic all the way through," says Jon Johnsen, Skanska's project manager.
The 2,500 Statoil employees who moved into their new workplaces in October are now assembled in one location after having been spread among a number of premises in the Oslo area.
This green project aims to achieve the level, "Very Good," in accordance with the British environmental certification system BREEAM. The project is also one of several pilot projects of the Norwegian BREEAMNOR.
Statoil is the largest company in Norway, ranked 40th in the Fortune Global 500 and one of the world’s largest energy companies.