Hasletre / Save The Children Norway

Project Description - Hasle Tre
Innovation
Hasle Tre is Norway’s first dismountable and reusable wooden office building. The load-bearing structure is designed to use large standard production formats and dimensions as much as possible, with minimal cutting of elements. Innovative wood-to-wood connections significantly reduce steel usage in the building and enable easier assembly and disassembly. This facilitates the reuse of materials at the end of the building’s life. When it’s time to dispose of the building, the wood fasteners can be sawed, planed, or drilled out without damaging the structure.
The project is groundbreaking and sets a new standard for future construction methods. Hasle Tre is an example of how good design and architecture can contribute to sustainable innovation and the important transformation of the construction and real estate industry towards a circular economy.
Construction / Dismountability
The massive wood elements are joined using two-part double dovetail connections made from birch plywood (X-fix). The beam/column connection was developed specifically for this project and consists of long, slim beech dowels, dried to 6% wood moisture, which expand and lock the structure when driven into the connection points. Internal veneered panels in ash and external cladding in pine wood are attached with beech nails.
Urban Environment, Neighbourhood & Architecture
Hasle Tre is the third and final building that, along with “Wang Ung” and “Vinslottet”, helps define a new square at Hasle. The square creates an intimate and urban neighbourhood space at the location, which was once the main entrance to the Vinmonopolet’s historical production facility at Hasle.
The square is named Sigrid Helliesen Lunds Plass, after the founder of Save the Children, and is a pleasant and informal meeting place for all those who live and work in the area.
Hasle Tre is the new headquarters for Save the Children, which is part of the world’s largest organization for children's rights. The goal has been to create an “open house” based on perceived accessibility and comfort. The project's sustainable qualities played a role in deciding its location at Hasle, Vinslottet.
The Building
The building's volume and wood chip facade are inspired by the time-typical monolithic brick facade of Vinslottet, with an open first floor, creating a cohesive experience that ties the surrounding buildings together around the square. The building steps down towards Haslevangen in the south, inviting the public into what appears to be an open, soft, and friendly structure.
Hasle Tre has a favorable location, surrounded by a well-developed walking and cycling network, and close to public transportation. No new parking spaces for cars have been established for the project. Safe and attractive covered bicycle parking has been established on the neighbouring plot. Facilities such as changing rooms, showers, and drying cabinets are provided in the building's basement to support cycling as a natural transport choice for those working in the building.
Materiality & Health
The building is made entirely of wood, from the inside out; with a load-bearing structure of mass timber and glued-laminated timber, insulation materials made from wood fibers, and a wood chip facade. The majority of interior surfaces are wood, treated with a diffusion-open natural oil.
We spend about 90% of our lives indoors, so a healthy indoor climate is important. Exposed wooden surfaces provide warm surfaces. Extensive use of wood slats and cork panels offers good room acoustics. The carpet in the office spaces is an industrial goat hair rug with hygroscopic and antibacterial properties. The hygroscopic properties of wood and wool help regulate and stabilize indoor relative humidity. Large well-placed windows in the facade allow for good daylight. Operable windows give users a sense of personal control over the indoor climate. All these elements contribute to Hasle Tre being a very pleasant building to spend time in, providing excellent conditions for a productive workday.
Currently, a study is being conducted in collaboration with Save the Children and NMBU to verify any potential effects on reduced sickness absence by moving into a new building with extensive use of natural materials and daylight, compared to older data from the previous location. Various measurements are also being taken regarding air quality, acoustics, happiness, and energy consumption.
Flexibility / Interior
The building's plan and organization allow for alternative uses and reorganization of spaces over time. The support columns are arranged in a simple, square grid with five-meter spacing, making it easy to divide spaces into new rooms should future needs arise. The interior and technical systems are adaptable, with dismountable surfaces. Future reuse is ensured by including disassembly instructions for central components as part of the building's operations and maintenance documentation (FDV).
Sustainability / Circular Economy
Hasle Tre is in the process of being BREEAM NOR certified to the "Excellent" level. The BREEAM NOR certification evaluates the project’s overall approach to the environment and sustainability.
What sets Hasle Tre apart is that the building has been designed for a circular material cycle during construction, use, and decommissioning. This approach plans for flexibility and adaptability, ensuring that material resources can stay in circulation for a long time.
Calculations conducted by engineers at Multiconsult show a total greenhouse gas reduction of 59% from energy use and materials compared to an industry reference according to FutureBuilt's calculation rules (FutureBuilt Zero). The building serves as a model project for how architecture can be used to address the environmental challenges facing the Norwegian construction and real estate industry.
Reuse All the Way
During construction, ventilation units, emergency doors, acoustic panels, sanitary installations, and floor coverings and tiles in secondary rooms were reused from other projects. The building is also planned for future reuse, and dismountable materials are intended to be traded on the second-hand market. The mass timber and glued-laminated timber load-bearing structure is minimally processed and perforated, which will increase the material's value in the future second-hand market. The interior is built in layers, and efforts have been made to avoid adhesives, silicone, construction foam, etc., that bind the construction elements together.
The environmental ambitions and circular concept of Hasle Tre were key factors in Save the Children’s decision to choose this building for its headquarters. The circular approach has been extended to the interior concept. With the help of Romlaboratoriet interior architects, Save the Children achieved 60% reuse and upcycling of office furniture and loose inventory. The building is designed without fixed office spaces, allowing for dynamic use with various work zones such as office spaces, meeting rooms, quiet rooms, focus areas, group zones, and social gathering places.
Social sustainability and innovation were also high on the agenda, and both high school students and work inclusion companies were engaged to upcycle and/or build furniture. New innovative partition walls between workstations have been developed, made from wool from wild sheep, typically considered waste, but now serving as beautiful and functional elements in the office landscapes.
These circular ambitions have gone further than the developer, architect, and project team could have dreamed of. This illustrates that a building with a clear sustainable identity has the potential to inspire and contribute to a sustainable transformation.