Peder Balke Kunstlåve Phase II

The barn at Billerud farm in Østre Toten, Norway is a large agricultural building in a rural area north of Oslo attached to the Peder Balke Centre,  gallery for the renowned Norwegian painter. The barn measures near 2000 square meters and the aim of the local community is a gradual development of the building, transforming it from agricultural production into a facility for the production of art. The farm building from 1904 is constructed with foundations made of field stones, bricks, laft, and stud work. One of our primary concerns is to enable circulation of people throughout the building, without loosing its unique spatial qualities. The current situation means that most rooms are accessed independently of each other with various degrees of insulation. The proposed interventions are the insertions of simple stair cores, cut openings and apertures that tie the building together and that taps into the pre-existing movement within the building.