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Civic

Completed

Halden Archive

A regional archive and public library where the reading room is lifted above a robust masonry base housing the climate-controlled stacks.

Sector

Civic

Client

Institutional

Location

Halden, NO

Area

5,200 m²

Year

2023

Status

Completed

Halden Archive

01 — Context

A small border town needed to consolidate three fragile municipal collections under one roof while creating its first genuinely public interior.

Fig. 02 — Interior study

02 — Concept

The building is legible as two registers: a heavy, quiet base for the record, and a light, occupied volume for the reader above it.

Drawing — General arrangement plan

03 — Materials

Load-bearing brick, exposed cross-laminated timber, and linen acoustic panels tuned for the reading room.

Fig. 03 — Material detail

04 — Outcomes

Consolidated 4.2 kilometres of shelving and doubled recorded public visits within a year of opening.

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