Hidden in plain sight

A new public space at Aker Brygge
w/ Espen Heimdal
Re-store Petroleum, AHO
2023

Eastern Norway isn’t typically associated with the petroleum industry. However, Aker ASA, a shipyard dating back to 1842, entered the oil industry by building the “Ocean Viking” rig, which struck oil at Ekofisk in the 1960s. Backed by government investment, Aker grew and relocated in 1982. The old site became Aker Brygge, now a commercial area with shops, offices, and apartments. While traces of its industrial past remain, the history feels polished and distant.

This project aims to revive that narrative—its rawness, scale, and labor. Archival research uncovered that the shipyard’s large dry dock became a parking garage with a guest harbor above. The project reopens the dry dock as a public space, highlighting industrial textures and contrasts. Visitors enter through the underground garage, led by signs and colored paths. A ship-hull-inspired structure divides the dock into two public areas: one above and one below.