Snøhetta to final round of the Grieg Quarter competition

Snøhetta, in collaboration with 3RW arkitekter and COWI, is through to the final round and invited to a subsequent competition for a service contract in the Grieg Quarter competition. 

The project is part of a planned new cultural quarter development, with the new concert hall operating alongside the existing Grieghallen. The other finalists are Henning Larsen Architects AS and Nordic Office of Architecture AS. 

See the design proposals here.

- We are thrilled that our design proposal for Bergen's new cultural scene is included in this competition phase. The new Grieg Quarter concert hall will be a musical venue the city of Bergen has always been missing and, at the same time, activate and bring life to a new urban space in the center. The legacy of Edvard Grieg is essential for the city of Bergen and a part of a certain Bergen distinctiveness. As we enter a new era, Bergen will be helped forward by Grieg, says founding partner in Snøhetta, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen.

Snøhetta's proposal for the new musical theatre is called «Med en vandlilje», With a waterlily, after a music piece composed by Edvard Grieg. The vision is to compose a national romantic urban space for the general public where the landscape of Western Norway, the urban square, and the new musical theatre create a unique blue-green Grieg Quarter.

It will create a new international, regional, and local center for music and activate Grieghallen and the surrounding urban spaces in Bergen's city center. The new building consists of a musical theatre for 1000 spectators, a rehearsal hall with the possibility of 200 seated spectators, as well as an exhibition and support area gathered under a universally designed public space floor.

The central concept is to place the main part of the musical theatre under Edvard Grieg's square so that the overall volume appears minimal and provides as much of the space floor as possible for the city's citizens. 

The stage tower will appear as a vertical element marking the building in the urban space. Around this, a unifying roof allows for flexible use in the meeting between culture and audience.

The roof takes inspiration from Grieghallen's arcade in height and dimensions and allows you to move sheltered around the building with covered entrances from all sides of the building.

Negotiations and the selection of the final winner are scheduled to be completed during the month of March.