Halvorsen + Voss is an independent architecture studio in Oslo. We design residential, cultural, and adaptive-reuse projects across the Nordics — buildings that get better the longer you live with them.
Six projects from the last five years across residential, cultural, and adaptive reuse. Click any project to read the full case study.
01 / RESIDENTIAL
A family home carved into a steep hillside above the Oslofjord. Three pavilions step down the slope, each oriented to a different view and time of day. Clad in local Kebony pine that will silver with age.
02 / CULTURAL
An outdoor performance pavilion on the Bergen harbour front. The plywood shell is tuned to amplify unamplified voice and strings — a building that is also an instrument. Open May–September.
03 / ADAPTIVE REUSE
Conversion of an 18th-century harbour granary into a writing residency for the Trondheim Literary Festival. Original timber frame exposed; new inserts in corten steel clearly distinguish old from new.
04 / RESIDENTIAL
A weekend cabin on a wind-blasted coastal site. The form is dictated by the prevailing wind rose — long axis perpendicular to gusts, roof pitched to shed snow. Clad in shou sugi ban charred cedar.
05 / CULTURAL
A non-denominational chapel for the University Hospital of North Norway. A single room, lit from above by a south-facing clerestory that catches the polar night's aurora. Concrete, oak, slate.
06 / INTERIOR
Interior fit-out for a 30-person software studio. Open studio, four phone booths, two quiet rooms, one library, one kitchen that doubles as town hall. Acoustic felt ceiling in moss-green.
A building is a 50-year decision. We treat it that way. Every project starts with a material narrative — what will this building look like in year 5, year 15, year 50? — and works backwards to the form.
We work slow on purpose. Our average project takes 18 months from sketch to handover, and we don't take on more than five new commissions a year. The goal is buildings our clients still love in year 20 — not press that fades in year 2.
We start every project with a week on the site — at different times of day, in different weather. The form usually suggests itself before we draw anything.
Wood looks like wood. Concrete looks like concrete. We don't fake finishes. Materials are chosen for how they age, not how they photograph on day one.
In the Nordic climate, natural light is the rarest material. We treat it like a structural element — designing rooflines and openings around where light falls, hour by hour.
A predictable process so you always know what we're drawing, why we're drawing it, and when it ships.
A week on the site. Conversations with the client, the neighbours, the local council. We leave with a written brief and a single page of design principles.
Three concept directions in parallel. We pick one together with the client. From sketch to planning permission in 8–12 weeks typical.
Construction documents, material samples, contractor selection. We work with a small group of trusted builders across the Nordics.
Site supervision, weekly visits, and a 12-month defects period after handover. We stay until the building has been through every season.
We take on 4–5 new commissions a year. Tell us about the site, the brief, and what you want the building to feel like in year 20. We respond to every enquiry within five business days.