Ferry Terminal

Our competition entry for a waterfront terminal: a low glass hall under a folded roof plate, with a lookout tower above the berth.

Location

Oslo, Norway

Year

2026

Area

1,150 m²

Status

Competition

Client

A port authority

Team

Jonas Berg, Ingrid Hansen, Tom Ashby

Context

The competition asked for a new terminal on an existing quay in Oslo's inner harbour, serving commuter ferries and summer sightseeing boats. Roughly eight thousand passengers a day pass through in peak season, most of them in short bursts when a boat arrives. The quay is flat, exposed to wind from the fjord and edged by a 1.2 metre drop to the water. The brief asked for ticketing, a cafe, public toilets and a covered waiting area, as well as a public space that could be used when no boats were running.

Concept

The terminal is one long, low room, fifty-two metres by eleven and a half, with a glass wall facing the water and a solid wall behind. A folded roof plate lifts at the berth end to shelter the boarding area and drops towards the city, where it meets the existing street. Two service cores holding tickets, cafe and toilets stand inside the hall like furniture, leaving the space between them open for queues and for market stalls on weekends. A slim lookout tower on the quay edge gives a view along the harbour and marks the berth from the water.

Construction

The proposal is a steel frame on a concrete deck, with slender columns at 6.5 metre spacing and a folded roof of steel plate and insulated panels. Glazing is laminated, low-iron and set in a thin steel mullion grid at 2.6 metre centres, with tinted upper panes to limit glare. Quay edges are protected by a steel fender and a raised kerb. Heating and cooling use harbour water through a heat exchanger below the deck, and photovoltaic panels cover the south-facing slope of the roof. All parts are prefabricated to limit time spent on the quay.