“Façade lift” on the sunny side of Holmenkollen
Project Manager Karl Erik Rønstad set clear and detailed guidelines for the project. Only Steni’s façade panels satisfied the specifications for the housing cooperative’s facelift.
At the foot of Holmenkollåsen in Oslo, there are eight terrace blocks. When Himstadplassen Borettslag’s board of directors decided to renovate the façade and replace all the windows, the engineering consulting firm of Sohlberg & Toftenes AS was chosen to manage the project.
Rune Gruer from the contractor Palmgren AS (left) and Karl Erik Rønstad, Project and Construction Manager at the engineering consulting firm of Sohlberg & Toftenes AS.
The end sides of all eight blocks have steel panels from the 1980s and they are quite the worse for wear.Karl Erik Rønstad, Project and Construction Manager at the engineering consulting firm of Sohlberg & Toftenes AS
Impressive range of colours
Once renovation work on the terrace blocks on the sunny side of Holmenkollen has been completed, the profiled red steel panels will be replaced with 4,000 square metres of smooth white, light grey and dark grey panels – carefully selected by a colour consultant to suit the character of the buildings and fit in with the surroundings.
“The wide range of colours and the option of choosing different sized panels are two important advantages of Steni’s façade panels,” explains Rønstad.
As before, the remaining 3,000 square metres of the buildings’ façades will be dressed with wooden cladding.
Clear guidelines
When Rune Gruer from Palmgren AS, the contractor on this project, started looking for products that satisfied Rønstad’s requirements in terms maintenance, cost and colour range, he quickly narrowed his choice down to Steni’s façade panels.
“The guidelines stated that we were to use Steni’s products or other products of equivalent quality. But here in Norway, it is not easy to find any other products that satisfy Rønstad’s specifications,” says Gruer.
Maintenance-free façade panels
Project and Construction Manager Karl Erik Rønstad has good experience with Steni’s façade panels. He explains that STENI’s products were selected for the 2002 renovation of a housing cooperative in Årvoll that he also managed.
“I often walk past the buildings and I have seen with my own eyes that the façades still look like new,” he says, adding that it was first and foremost the maintenance-free aspect of STENI’s façade panels that he was interested in for the Himstadplassen Borettslag project as well.
The terrace blocks at Himstadplassen Borettslag are situated on the sunny side of Holmenkollen.
The red steel panels from the 1980s are being replaced with modern white and grey façade panels from Steni.
Choosing quality
The lifecycle cost was also an important consideration. A product that stays in the same good condition year after year is in itself economical. The complex conditions in terms of the terrain surrounding the buildings would also contribute to massive costs if there was a need to perform regular maintenance on the façade.
“For example, if we were to dress all the sides with wood cladding, it would mean increased costs for painting at regular intervals. The rigging costs alone would amount to NOK 150,000 per block,” says Gruer.
The only other alternatives were steel and brick, which would have been more costly over time, which is why Gruer believes that Steni’s façade panels are the best solution.
