A façade of glass and pine wood

Norwegian architectural studio Snøhetta designed a new extension and outdoor entrance of the Norwegian Skimuseet in Oslo, featuring a glass façade covered with pine wood planks.

The Skimuseet in Oslo is the world’s oldest ski museum. For its 100-year anniversary, Snøhetta designed the new extension and outdoor entrance, situated by the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. In 2010, the ski jump reopened after an upgrade, and the museum was partly covered by the construction.

Snøhetta aimed to bring the museum back into the limelight and make it more accessible. The studio dismantled a third of the building and gave it a new façade, consisting of a five-metre-tall glass wall partially clad by a curtain of Norwegian pine wood planks, 1207 pieces in total. The pine was inspired by the original material for skis, and the traditional wooden fence skigard, which is a fence made of rows or skis that are laid diagonally above each other and fastened between pairs of poles using wicker, twigs or steel wire. The cladding follows the façade longitudinally, sticking out at both ends. The wood was also chosen to contrast with the ski jump’s hard surfaces such as concrete, steel, stone.

The massive concrete pillars supporting the ski jump are visible inside the new extension. The main structure of the building is made of glulam frames.

The museum space has walls of concrete and slate, and the interior was designed to contrast this. The furniture colors are taken from the Norwegian skiing life: the classic, red anoraks, the green spruce forest, and the white snow.

The fixed interior and the bar tables are built from pine plywood with red linoleum surfaces. The upholstered chairs and the long sofa are clad with Norwegian wool textiles. The cubic tables are handmade by the client Skiforeningen, with raw pinewood from the forest around Holmenkollen.

Photos: Thomas Ekström