Designed by LundHagem and Atelier Oslo, Deichman Bjørvika is the new public library for Oslo city, located between Oslo Central Station and Opera House by Snøhetta. With the aim to create a contemporary library, architects conceived a building for meeting and activities, an open space to be explored with a total of 450,000 books. The building is distributed over six top-lit levels, one of them underground, connected by three polygonal light shafts that cut diagonally across the building. Natural light also enters through the glazed surfaces of the cladding, completely transparent on the ground floor to enhance the connection with the city. Cantilevered volumes have been added on the first and fourth floors, almost 20 meters out above the urban plaza.
Accessible on three sides, the library organises closed spaces and niches around three self-supporting book towers in order to free the facades and invite light in. The library includes a cinema and a 200-seat auditorium in the basement, a restaurant and recording studios.