Are you interested in architecture, security, and sustainability? Then you’ll love learning about Norway’s powerhouse trademark. This architectural feat is a comfortable office space, a unique structure, and a carbon-negative design.
Keep reading about the award-winning design, cloud-based, sophisticated security, and carbon-negative technology behind Norway’s Powerhouse Telemark. This guide will show you how the path towards sustainability for our planet is being paved by architectural innovation.
Award-Winning Design
The Powerhouse Telemark building is home to Snøhetta, a Norwegian architecture, and design firm. The building was designed to be a comfortable, attractive office space, with the added benefit of being carbon negative. The building is near Trondheim harbour and has a slanted pentagonal roof. A circular hole in the center of the roof creates a quad in the middle of the building.
Created by the Powerhouse alliance, this Trondheim building is the second of its kind. The building pushes architecture’s intellectual and physical boundaries to bring us into a future of sustainable building technology. Snohetta is devoted to creating public spaces that bring people together – we are inching towards a secular society that promotes isolation and loneliness, which is why beautiful and sustainable public spaces are more important than ever.
Snøhetta’s designs give people an interactive experience; they can take part in the architecture and landscape of the design. A great example of Snøhetta’s interactive designs is the Oslo opera house, allowing pedestrians to walk on its roof. Snøhetta brings this innovation to all kinds of projects, from office buildings to schools.
Physical Security Powered By Openpath and Orbit
Openpath is a US-based security system manufacturer that supplies building security products across the globe. Openpath provides cloud-based access control solutions with open API integrations to optimize and streamline the function of building security.
Touchless access control is a modern and cloud-based security tool that allows users to gain entries to doors using digital access keys stored on their mobile devices. Openpath access control system uses Bluetooth, WiFi, and cellular communication to ensure a reliable door entry unlock. Remote communication also allows users to enter with simply a wave of their hand – this will trigger communication with their mobile device, whether stored in a pocket or bag.
Then came a need for streamlined and sophisticated building security for Powerhouse Telemark. Orbit is a building management tool that allows tenants and building users to book and reserve spaces for daily operations, helping businesses access temporary space without a long-term commitment. At Powerhouse Telemark, they needed an access control solution that could easily integrate with Orbit to create a smart and cohesive building and space management strategy.
Carbon Negative Building
The Norwegian building is designed to be carbon-negative and produces more energy than it consumes each year. The building will produce more power during its lifespan than was necessary to construct and run it. This eco-friendly innovation is bound to drive us into a more sustainable future.
Trondheim suffers varying sun exposure throughout the year, as it is 69 degrees north of the equator. To ensure the building receives maximum sun exposure throughout the year, the building’s geometry is carefully constructed. This allows the solar lights integrated into the building’s roof to produce the total amount of energy.
The building produces around 500,000 kWh in renewable energy each year while serving as a pleasant space for its tenants and improving the visual appeal of Tronheim’s harbor. Any excess power generated by the building is sold back to the grid. The building acts as a power station amid the city, and with more facilities like this, we could pave the way for more eco-conscious city living.
Snøhetta’s building will hopefully be the first of many carbon-negative buildings, and architects will adopt more efficient designs as the design process evolves. We are already seeing energy-positive hotels in the idyllic Norwegian fjords and landscapes. Norway is home to many rural architectural wonders, and will soon be home to a Fjord hotel with a suspended pool!
Summary
With innovative design and modern security technologies, the Norwegian Powerhouse Telemark building is a feat of contemporary architecture. Snøhetta is leading the charge with architecture that helps mitigate the climate crisis’s consequences. If you want to bring your existing office building into the future, consider investing in futureproof security technologies and sustainable energy resources.
