Photo By Benson Kua, Canada, via Wikimedia Commons

Icon Complex Tjuvholmen

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Tjuvholmen’s gift to the city of Oslo

The Icon Complex was conceived as a gift from the developer of Tjuvholmen to the city of Oslo. Part of the tender documents included a clause requiring the developer to establish attractive public areas at Tjuvholmen. Aspelin Ramm/Selvaag won the competition and they decided to choose a museum building.

Aas-Jakobsen became involved and worked with the architect to prepare the outline project. When the outline project had been prepared, a competition was announced for an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract, which was won by Skanska. Aas-Jakobsen was chosen to be Skanska’s civil engineering consultant. All the concrete structures were designed by Aas-Jakobsen.

The Icon Complex is a group of buildings on Tjuvholmen consisting of three buildings unified by a shared roof. The project was developed by the architect’s office Renzo Piano Building Workshop in Genoa, in partnership with Narud Stokke Wiig. The complex houses art, cultural and experience centres as well as offices, and connects Aker Brygge with Tjuvholmen.

Large sections of the buildings’ concrete structures have been cast underwater. This created several challenges in relation to underwater casting and work in the splash zone. The Icon Complex was drawn by the acclaimed and award-winning architect Renzo Piano. Working with an internationally acclaimed architect was both interesting and educational. The project was characterised by creative solutions and a strong drive to get things done. For Aas-Jakobsen, this was one of the first projects in which there was an active decision to create a 3D model for interdisciplinary use and checking. This gave the company early experience in BIM, and an excellent platform with which to start developing towards its current everyday use of the software.

For Aas-Jakobsen, the Icon Complex was an novel project in which its skills in the design of concrete structures and use of 3D modelling were stretched. The result has been a building which gives Tjuvholmen a unique character and has attracted great attention from Norway and abroad.