Long technical and aesthetic life

Thanks to their economical, aesthetic and environmental qualities, Steni Colour façade panels were chosen to adorn the exterior of the award-winning, renovated Nordre Gran housing cooperative in Oslo.

“I am a building engineer, I grew up here and I have strong feelings for the Nordre Gran housing cooperative.” His background in the community is what motivated Umar Munir to work to realise such an ambitious rehabilitation project.

“The technical lifetime of the buildings had expired,” he says. He explains that about a thousand people were living in 262 flats in a very dilapidated residential environment, in buildings from 1978. Munir is the chair of the housing cooperative at Furuset in Oslo, which received the 2017 OBOS Award for its renewal, a facelift that has made the housing complex today seem almost as new.

The aesthetics of the façade panels
“In addition to suffering from an unfortunate lack of maintenance, the housing cooperative, with its 1970s atmosphere, was also in dire need of modernisation,” says Munir, who shows off an inviting living environment with attractive outdoor areas and both high-rise and low-rise buildings with light-coloured façades clad in Steni Colour. “Buildings also have an aesthetic life,” he says.

The chair of the Nordre Gran housing cooperative, Umar Munir, believes the aesthetic expression is important. “We shape our surroundings and they shape us,” he says.

FACTS

The Nordre Gran housing cooperative is located at Furuset in Oslo
Won the OBOS Award in 2017
A total of 262 flats spread over 7 buildings
The rehabilitation project cost NOK 134.5 million
Cost per flat: NOK 513,000
Chose STENI Colour façade panels

Long lifespan
With an investment of NOK 134.5 million – or NOK 513,000 per flat – the choice of façade material was clearly a key consideration for the housing cooperative. The chair of the housing cooperative became quite familiar with STENI’s products, both through the architect and on his own during visits to other housing cooperatives.

The great thing about Steni’s façade panels is that they are made of a robust and maintenance-free material that can last for 60 years. Omar Munir, Chair of the Nordre Gran housing cooperative

Good financial sense
One of the reasons that Steni Colour adorns the façades of the housing cooperative’s seven buildings is that it is more economical.

“It is cheaper in the long run to choose a maintenance-free product with a long service life, even if the initial investment is a little higher. It’s the lifetime cost that matters,” says Munir.

Eco-friendly
The chair of the housing cooperative also points out that the Steni façade panels are easy to install, which is also time-saving.

“Steni has good solutions for fasteners and transitions. They have done their technical homework,” he says.

“We also took into consideration Steni’s lifecycle CO2 footprint, and the results are quite positive,” says Munir. After the rehabilitation project, the flats have become very popular on the market.

“Demand is high, and every indication is that the renewal of the buildings has been a contributing factor to the strong increase in price per square meter,” says the chair of the housing cooperative.