Pynten is an office building developed for Avantor, one of the largest real estate developers in Oslo, as part of their new office and industry area Nydalen Park in Oslo. This is presently the largest urban development project in Norway, and the company is establishing a large service organisation for the area in addition to developing office — and housing projects.

The site has an exposed situation with view to all directions, connection to the river park Akerselva to the east, and good infrastructural connections. The site is heavily polluted from a neighbouring highway. The building entrance faces west, towards the local access road, while the main views are to the river to the east, and the city to the south.

The building has a very good environmental profile, with a compact design, thermal mass, balanced hybrid ventilation, and intelligent lighting with utilisation of daylight. The building’s annual energy use is expected to be 84 kW/m2. Of this, lighting and equipment constitute 34 kW/m2. Heating comprises 26 kW/m2, partially covered with electricity. Average energy consumption in a reference building is 230-240 kw/m2 per year.

The building had a centralised control system that regulates resource use. Each workplace has its own web site to regulate the local climate, and cell offices have motion detectors that put vacant areas in standby mode. Similar concepts are applied in public areas.

The building has an open circular plan with an inserted closed volume containing the reception and vertical communication. Three floors and two basement levels add up to a total floor area of about 4200 m2. Of this, about 3000 m2 containing 114 work places is for rent. The structure of the building suggests one tenant at a time, and the work places are placed on three donut-shaped floors.

The office space can be arranged in a number of ways, from open landscapes via team offices to standard cell offices. Work places are quite exposed in the simple shape of the building, which is handled with interior walls or separation walls. Left over area from adding this grid of rectangular work modules is useable for meeting tables etc.

Most service facilities are atypically located in the basement and in the closed volume to the north east. Circulation routes run on the perimeter of the central atrium, and become the focal point of the interior.

The facades of the main volume have large glazed areas to utilize the view and daylight to all directions. Although the main volume is circular, the south face is more fragmented, with a saw tooth profile that breaks up the volume. The building still has very similar
expressions to the different directions. The building is somewhat difficult to add additional volumes to in the future, due to its compact, clear-shaped geometry.

The building envelope is strictly following the shape of the floors, creating no natural breaks in the structure for internal vertical connections between floors. The fagade walls are quite traditional in their structure, and are divided in 2,4 meter wide modules, adjacent to the width of a standard office cell. The interior is not bound to this dimension in its layout, but must relate to the shape to some extent. Galleries running along the south face of the building bring depth to the fagade and shade to the adjacent offices. They also give employees some access to the exterior and activate the facade.

The flat solid roof has a terrace and a central skylight that bring light into the core of the building. The skylight is tilted to the north.