Larvik rådhus
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date: 2025 -
status: Preliminary design
type: City hall and library
client: Larvik Kommune
coll.: BUILT, IARK and LAla Tøyen
Illu.: SAAHA/Built
Through the transformation of a 1960s bank, the new City Hall unites local history with sustainable materials to create an open civic meeting point on the central square in Larvik
Team SAAHA, consisting of SAAHA, Built, IARK, and Lala Tøyen, connects the rehabilitated bank structure with a new timber and stone extension on the existing parking lot. The ground floor extends directly to the square outside, housing the municipal service center, Larvik Library, an open cafe, as well as shared meeting areas. By keeping the original concrete frame and opening the lower levels to the public, the building provides an accessible civic meeting place for the city while preserving the local history of the site.
Construction, Materiality, and Sustainability
Retaining the original concrete frame serves as the core climate strategy, preserving up to seventy percent of embodied emissions on site. For the new four storey extension, the structural design pairs carbon storing mass timber with solid Larvikite stone. Massive stone blocks from local quarries act as load bearing exterior columns, establishing a regional precedent for structural stonework while exposed timber interiors regulate humidity and acoustics naturally. Together with sedum roofs, flexible modular planning, and robust energy performance, the project targets a high environmental standard.
The Heart of the Building
The building organizes around an open atrium established within the former banking hall, transforming the historic double height volume into an active indoor square. Covered by a central glass roof, this vertical atrium connects public life across the different levels. From this central arrival point, circulation branches intuitively toward the service center, the west facing cafe, and Larvik Library. A central staircase serves as the primary vertical spine, connecting the basement vaults and library directly to the upper meeting rooms and assembly halls.
Facade Strategy
On the existing building facing the square, energy performance is restored through a prefabricated element facade that expands window apertures and reinterprets the original 1960 grid. At street level, the arcade columns are restored with ceramic blue mosaic tiles, while retained Larvikite plates on the upper walls are paired with improved exterior insulation.
In contrast, the facade of the new building along Oscars gate establishes a deeper relief with massive, load bearing Larvikite pillars that mirror the horizontal and vertical intervals of the old bank. The upper floor terminates with triangular stone geometries echoing the historic end walls, completing the transition between past and present.
