Edifices damaged by nature invoke resilience, rebuilding; often doubling up for the ‘indomitable human spirit’. But what if the destruction is wanton? Human?

“More democracy, more openness and greater political participation,” is what Jens Stoltenberg, the then-Prime Minister of Norway, stated to summarise the nation’s response to the July 22, 2011, terror attacks, following a car bomb exploding in Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarters in Oslo. The incident was marked with heavy loss of life and infrastructural desecration, severely affecting key ministry buildings including the Høyblokken (‘high-rise’), Y-block and the historic G-block.

While repair was technically possible to an extent, Statsbygg, the construction and property authority of the state, foresaw an avenue for reinvention. Through an international competition launched in 2016, they hired the Team Urbis design consortium, led by the Nordic Office of Architecture, to design the New Government Quarter for 4,100 government employees, including the Prime Minister, officials and other staff. The current programme comprises seven architectural blocks—five new and two restored—in a democratic landscape that is touted to be open, engaging and secure. The landscape is set out amidst open public zones, notably integrating security barriers and discreet surveillance into the design to reconnect the site with Oslo’s historic centre. Replacing the formerly automobile-centric Y-block, the new masterplan introduces a porous and pedestrian-friendly A-block, opening up newer routes and public spaces. 2025 marked the completion of the project’s first phase, worked on by a conglomerate of teams and distinguished professionals, including Haptic Architects, Bjørbekk & Lindheim and SLA (landscape) and Scenario Interiørarkitekter, I-D Interiørarkitektur og Design and Rambøll (interior architects), alongside Nordic Office of Architecture.

Of these, the new A block, housing the Ministries of Climate, Environment and Trade; the restored Høyblokken or H-block, home to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security; and the G-block, housing the Ministry of Finance, together form the public face of the government quarter, leading people into the new public parks and plazas. The D-block, housing the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Culture and Equality, currently forms a silent backdrop in anticipation of future phases. The public zone comprises the rejuvenated Johan Nygaardsvolds plass and Einar Gerhardsens plass, which connect Hammersborg, the city centre and the fjord through cycling and pedestrian routes; the new Regjeringsparken—designed with landscape architects SLA and Bjørbekk & Lindheim—that forms the open green core of the site; and the 22 July Centre, a public museum and learning space dedicated to the most tragic day in the modern history of Norway.

The main pedestrian routes are all lined with cafes, gardens and other civic spaces, lending the administrative district an innate sense of publicness. The Johan Nygaardsvolds plass leads the visitors directly into the ground-floor lobby of the A-block, where Outi Pieski’s AAhkA (‘Mother Earth’), a 51-metre-high birch-lined artwork and Picasso’s The Seagull lie in wait to welcome them into the building. The restoration of Høyblokken reflects a similar sensitivity and leaning towards large-scale artworks, combining the original architectural character of the structure in timber from 1958 with artworks such as the Picasso mural near the lift lobby. The interior programming of the blocks features flexible office layouts supporting an evolving political structure, new technologies and ministerial collaboration. A bridge on the first floor, connecting with the A and G blocks through Høyblokken, collectively form the Collaboration District, consisting of atria and shared social zones, offering open working areas for everyday dialogue and discussions against the backdrop of Norwegian artwork by contemporary artists such as Vanessa Baird.

As a celebration of the artistic legacy of the nation and the old government quarters, the new development also features the country’s largest public art programme with a collection of 300 new and re-sited works curated by KORO (Public Art Norway). The collection includes Jumana Manna’s 800 sq m mosaic Sebastia at the Johan Nygaardsvols plass, a collage of stone offcuts collected from different municipalities across Norway and other works preserved and relocated from the demolished blocks, such as Do Ho Suh’s Grass Roots Square sculpture at the heart of Einar Gerhardsens plass and Pablo Picasso’s The Fishermen, a sandblasted concrete mural that now adorns the southwest facade of A-block. Using a replica of the scaffolding structure that was used to move The Fishermen, Matias Fladbakken has designed the new National 22 July Memorial called Upholding, a sculptural mosaic that connects the two sites of the terror attack: Utøya and Regjeringskvartalet.

The interior furnishings and artworks showcase an equal priority to local materials, design and craft across the campus. Classic pieces by Torbjørn Afdal, Rastad & Relling, Sverre Fehn and Fredrik A. Kayser are paired with new contemporary design pieces by Andreas Engesvik, Anderssen & Voll, Jonas Stokke Tron Meyer and Daniel Rybakken. The architecture and interior design team even produced bespoke designs for the Prime Minister’s Office, the Collaboration District and other representative areas. The double-curved wooden finishes adorning many of the interior surfaces are guided by the craft expertise of boatbuilders Risør Båtbyggeri in collaboration with Biko.

Beyond careful restoration, modular layouts and integration of local materials and crafts, the new government buildings are also designed to meet BREEAM-NOR standards for an ‘Excellent’ rating by using sturdy material such as the silver-grey Larvikite stone, timber sourced from the nearby Nordmarka forest region, low-carbon concrete and carefully detailed envelopes featuring generous, glazed facades optimised for maximising daylight and transparency while optimising energy use.

Through the memorial, the learning museum, artworks and spaces that still bear visible traces of the attack, the site creates a sensitive archive of the 2011 incident, but through art, architecture and landscape as a rich tapestry of the nation’s craft, culture and memory. As the remaining phases continue to unfold, the New Government Quarter at Oslo stands as a powerful statement in favour of democracy: rejecting fear and offering itself back to the people through openness, transparency and cultural expression. 

Project Details

Name: New Government Quarter
Location: Akersgata 42, 0180 Oslo, Norway
Client: Statsbygg
Lead Architect: Nordic Office of Architecture
Collaborators: Architecture: Haptic Architects; Interiors: Scenario, I-d. Interiørarkitektur & design; Landscape: Bjørbekk & Lindheim, SLA; Planning: Aas-Jakobsen (engineering integration), Asplan Viak (urban and environmental); Engineering: COWI, Rambøll, Aas-Jakobsen, Asplan Viak; Heritage & Specialist Design: NIKU, Scenario, Per Rasmussen; Public Art: KORO (Public Art Norway)
Year of Completion: 2026 (for Phase 1)