Opened in 1998, its main terminal is one of the most elegant and sustainable airports in the world; the architect Niels Thorpe, among other things, made extensive use of wood there, which makes the space "warm" even on a winter night. However, the passenger traffic is steadily growing, and already at the end of the 2000s, the need to expand the airport became clear.
The competition for the corresponding project was won by the Nordic Bureau - Office of Architecture, which even opened its own branch in Gardermoen to make it easier to carry out renovations. Construction work began in 2011, and the airport is functioning normally, which left its mark on the implementation of the plan: in particular, it was necessary to build a temporary pier to "park" aircraft.
According to the Nordic project, the existing terminal will be expanded, a second will be added to it, the railway station will be rebuilt (now 65% of passengers arrive and leave the airport by public transport, it is planned to increase their number to at least 70%). At the same time, the self-service component will be strengthened: even more passengers than today will be able to check-in for a flight, drop off their luggage, go through document control during personal security and at the boarding gate without the help of airport employees.
The architects echo Thorp's design with their design. The client wants the second terminal of the airport to be perceived as an extension of the existing space: this unity, visual connections between key parts of the building and an intuitive direction of flows will help passengers easily navigate in Gardermoen. Therefore, in the new building there will be no less wood - in particular, floors will be made of it.
Saving resources is no less important than user friendliness for the customer and designers. Already, the airport in the Norwegian capital is one of the most environmentally friendly in the world, and after reconstruction it must receive a BREEAM Excellence certificate. Among the planned "green" technologies - the widespread use of natural light, geothermal energy, "snow" cooling system (it is planned to collect in winter 22,000 m3 snow, store in a special tank and gradually use it in the warm season), the heat obtained as a result of burning garbage.
Passenger traffic at Oslo airport is growing even faster than expected, but the renovation is going according to plan and within budget, so it will be completed in two years, in April 2017. At that time, 115,000 m will be built2 new areas and rebuilt 25,000 m2… The cost of the project is NOK 13 billion.
