The Norwegian building and construction industry has attracted international attention for its innovative design and exceptional products. Norwegian architects have won international acclaim for their modern approach to traditional materials such as wood, stone and metal. Norway has cutting-edge expertise in building large timber structures, tunnelling, and cavern excavation, as well as in road and bridge construction.
Wood and stone
Norwegian pine is an ideal building material, and Norwegian manufacturers export first-class timber and wood products like parquet flooring, prefabricated houses, and other building components worldwide. Glued, laminated timber (“glulam”) is a specially-developed, lightweight, and extremely strong product that has added a new dimension to the design of homes, large public and commercial buildings, and even bridges. The main terminal building at Oslo Gardermoen Airport is the largest laminated wood structure in the world.
Norway is also a major supplier in the global market for granite, larvikite (“Blue Pearl”), marble, and several different types of slate used in construction.
Underground facilities
Due to its mountainous terrain, Norway has opted to locate a large number of facilities, including hydropower plants, oil storage facilities, water treatment works, underground stations, military installations and sports facilities, underground. Nearly half of the world’s 400 underground power plants are located in Norway. Road construction in a country of mountains and fjords is also a challenge, and Norwegian geological engineers have over time developed great expertise in tunnelling and cavern excavation, bridge construction, knowledge of rock properties, geological analysis, drilling, and blasting.
buildingSMART – R&D and innovation
A number of construction industry trades have established a buildingSMART project based on the international IFC construction information standard. The project involves 12 trades, and includes trade organisations, companies, ICT suppliers, and researchers. The aim of the project is to reduce communication costs significantly on all construction projects, by an average of 30 per cent. The necessary technology is at the final stages of development. A total of 30 pilot businesses are involved in different parts of the project. Development of one part of the project, concerning communication with public bodies in relation to the digital processing of building applications, has been completed, and this feature is now in use. The project is planned for completion in 2007. The buildingSMART concept is also being implemented in 24 other countries. The Norwegian project is at the forefront of these.
Innovation Norway