Architectural competition

"This is a day to celebrate! We have a winning design, and now the basis has been laid for a monumental opera house in Bjørvika", says Minister of Cultural Affairs Ellen Horn. She emphasizes that the other award-winning designs that have been purchased also include interesting solutions that may be able to provide valuable input in the project’s development.

"I would like to thank the members of the jury, who have had a large and demanding task. They have done an impressive job in evaluating the 236 proposals that were submitted to the architectural competition. I am also pleased to see that the proposals were dealt with openly and were exhibited to the public," says Ms. Horn.

Further work will now be done on the winning design in accordance with the jury’s comments and criticisms. The cost and size of the structure must also be analysed more closely in relation to the terms of the architectural competition. A great deal of attention must be devoted to the question of acoustics if the opera house is to be successful. When all these questions have been cleared up by the autumn of 2000, a contract can be signed with an architect.

The opera building site

"I am very pleased that the Norwegian Government and the City of Oslo have agreed that the price will be determined in Court on a voluntary basis. We will begin preparing the groundwork for the project right away," says Ellen Horn. According to Fritz Huitfeldt, Oslo’s Chief Commissioner, the City Government will see to it that the national authorities will have access to the site well in advance of the starting date for construction, so the building process can stay on schedule.

1.1.1 Local development plan, ground inspection and pollution

The Directorate of Public Construction and Property is preparing a local development plan for the opera building site in order to enable the City of Oslo to complete its deliberations on the plan by the autumn of 2001, before the Proposition to the Storting is submitted in the spring of 2002.

A report on a geotechnical study carried out by the Directorate of Public Construction and Property this spring contained no surprises. The Directorate confirms that the depth to solid rock is close to previous estimates. The clay is more solid than was formerly assumed.

According to the Directorate, pollution is at approximately the same level as previously estimated.

The project’s status as of the summer of 2000

After the Storting decision of 15 June 1999, work on the opera project has focused on the issues mentioned above. The project’s steering group was headed by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, and members included personnel from the Ministry of Labour and Government Administration, the Directorate of Public Construction and Property and the Norwegian National Opera.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs plans to submit a proposition clarifying all the relevant questions to the Storting in 2002. This will enable the Storting to arrive at a decision on the binding cost framework and on starting construction at the beginning of 2003. This is in line with the project schedule that was presented in the Storting proposition on the opera.

For more information see www.statsbygg.no