The excitement about the new Opera House has just started to wear off before Oslo is planning a new project. On June 13, the winner of the competition for designing the new central station was announced. There were four strong competitors, but finally it was the Norwegian architect firm, Space Group, which got the honor of giving its touch to the capital skyline.
The design from Space Group involves demolishing a big part of the existing station and expanding it to almost twice its size. The new station hall will be four floors tall, where the two top floors will host offices. A U-shaped building will be placed next to the station and the premises will consist of Norway’s biggest conference hotel. The team has also suggested a crystal shaped building, facing the shopping street Karl Johan, where, among other things, the new tourist information office will be.
The Central Station in Oslo has today about 150,000 travelers every day. It is expected that this number will double in the next few years. The existing station has been expanded in stages and does therefore not work as well as it could. One hopes that the improved version of the Central Station will be big and function well enough for the years to come, so that further expansions will not be necessary.
It is expected that the construction of the new Oslo Central Station will begin in 2013 and will take between five to ten years to complete. The reconstruction will take place in stages so that the station will not have to close.
(via: Bustler)
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