SpareBank1 SMN - Trondheim - Norway
SpareBank1 SMN is a local bank with several branches in the region of Central Norway.
The project, developed by Agraff AS, Trondheim and winner of the FIABCI Norway’s Prix d’Excellence Award, is an office building with shops and a conference centre. The shops and the main entrance and reception for the bank are located on the ground floor. The bank’s headquarters and offices to let are on the 4 storeys above.
The old bank building (1882) has been enlarged to house a Conference Centre.
The site of the building is in the centre of Trondheim town. Trondheim consists of relatively small buildings, while the project takes up an entire block.
Normally, such a site would have consisted of 6-7 properties. In this case, however, the aim was to design an office - and business - building to house a single company with 500+ employees in an area of over 21000m2 spread over 5 storeys above ground level and two basement levels.
The aim of the project, which was to improve the existing surroundings while respecting them, greatly influenced the site.
The town’s geometrical layout was used as a reference and the building placed along the natural boundaries of the block.
The block was then split into 5 horizontal sections, each separated by glazed spaces from the ground floor to the roof. This single most important element is the key to the whole design.
These slits in the building have many important functions:
_the building complex communicates with the scale of the buildings in Trondheim;
_the slits introduce daylight deep into the workspaces;
_they function as ventilation shafts;
_they afford a view through the building between two streets, thus opening up the building mass and allowing light into the block as well as creating new pedestrian routes;
_they divide the work areas into functional sizes;
_they make for articulated entrances on the ground floor.
Great emphasis was placed on the building’s energy consumption and as a result an ambitious goal was achieved: a purchased energy expenditure of 85kWh/m2 a year, the best result in Norway to date.
As the building stands out today, it radiates confidence, credibility and efficiency. This is partly due to the tile cladding that articulates the shape of the building in a descriptive way.
Much importance was placed on eco-sustainable solutions in the choice of tiles for the façades.
The tiles had to look natural, evoking slate without mimicking it. A dark colour was preferable, because the surface could reflect natural light and vary in character with changing light conditions. Furthermore the tiles should require very little or no maintenance whatsoever.
The “Ardesia Nera” tile was the perfect answer to all these needs.