Kristian Augusts gate 13, Oslo

Kristian Augusts gate 13 is the first building in Norway to reuse construction materials and employ circular solutions in a major way. By reusing nearly 80 per cent of the materials, Kristian Augusts gate 13 has cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 70 per cent, and the project has made reuse a topic throughout the entire construction industry. Experiences from this FutureBuilt pilot project are currently being incorporated in other projects, and they have also underpinned the ongoing efforts to amend the current regulations and make it easier to reuse construction materials.

The KA13 project focused on reusing components from the existing building, such as the load-bearing system and the radiators, and even components from other projects have been re-purposed. The reused materials come from various “donor buildings” and from surplus materials in other projects. The concept of re-purposing was also central to the project, meaning that both the new and the pre-existing construction materials were selected for their suitability in unspecified projects in the future.

The project was expanded to include an annex with floor space of around 60 m² distributed across eight floors, with a technical room on the roof. The ground floor was enlarged and the basement remodelled.

In addition to its reuse ambitions, the project aimed for emission-free construction and full waste sorting with a waste maximum of 20 kg/m2 (excl. demolition).

The project incorporates blue-green solutions for the roof and the roof terraces, with the vegetation consisting of over 50 Norwegian-produced species. Most of these species are highly valuable for pollinating insects and reinforce Inner Oslo’s biodiversity. Innovative solutions have been developed to take care of stormwater, with the water being used as a resource to irrigate the plants. The roof is designed to cope with a twenty-year rain event.

The building lacks parking places of its own and instead facilitates cycling, walking, and public transport.  

Experiences  

The trouble-free reuse of construction materials requires enough resources, time, and skilled personnel to deal with planning and logistics. Storage facilities and the packaging and labelling of materials should be thought out in advance. Qualified personnel should be involved when planning how to dismantle and store the materials.

Kristian Augusts gate 13 was designed by H.J.S. Bakstad Arkitekt. This 1950s building is not formally red-listed, but is an interesting representative of its era and helps vary the local cityscape.

The reuse team for the KA13 project has prepared a  experience report  for the KA13 project, with Anne Sigrid Nordby (reuse consultant) as the main editor, and Randi Lunke (reuse coordinator) and Rune Andersen (project manager) as co-editors and storytellers. All planners, contractors, suppliers and tenants have provided important contributions to the report by sharing their experiences and various facts from their inclusion in the project.

This is KA13:

• Total building area is 4.297 square meters

• Original building is 2.734 square meters

• Basement is 708 square meters

• Extension is 855 square meters

• The standing goal of the project on Kristian Augusts gate 13 is to achieve reuse on the largest scale possible, minimum 50 per cent of all materials shall be reused

• This ambition represents a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from materials.

• Kristian Augusts gate relates to FutureBuilt’s criteria for circular buildings.

• Kristian Augusts gate 13 works to make the building parts “reusable” when the building later is to be rehabilitated or demolished (for example; bolting steel, proper mortar for brick walls, removable partitions, good traceability of documentation, etc.).

KA13 is developed by Entra in close collaboration with IWG Group and their Spaces concept, FutureBuilt and MAD architects.

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