Deichman Bjørvika, Oslo's new main library, opened to the public on June 18, 2020. It was designed by Norwegian firms Atelier Oslo and Lundhagem, who won the international competition to design the building back in 2009. The library sits on Oslo's harbor front in the Bjørvika district, part of the city's larger "Fjord City" waterfront renewal, positioned directly between Oslo Central Station and the Oslo Opera House designed by Snøhetta.
A Building Designed to Cantilever
The site itself is relatively small for a building of this ambition, which shaped one of the design's most distinctive moves: rather than building outward, the architects let the structure cantilever above its own footprint. The first floor extends out above the street to the east, and the fourth floor projects almost 20 meters over the urban plaza below, creating a dramatic covered approach to the entrance while still preserving sightlines to the neighboring Opera House. The facade combines narrow insulated panels with narrow glass strips in an alternating rhythm, tuned to balance high insulation value against even daylight distribution - with diffused interior glazing softening the closed sections and panoramic corner windows opening clear views out in different directions.
Inside: Six Floors Built Around Discovery
Atelier Oslo and Lundhagem designed the library specifically to function as more than a place to read - the brief called for a building that would draw visitors to explore new corners rather than move through it in a straight line. Inside, six floors hold roughly 450,000 items, most accessible through a fully automatic book-sorting system that frees library staff to focus on visitors rather than manual shelving. Three large geometric skylights flood the interior with natural light throughout the day. The ground floor houses food courts, restaurants, cafés, and a magazine shop; the floor above holds recording studios; and further up, visitors find a mini-cinema and activity rooms designed for all ages, alongside a large auditorium seating 200 people.
Recognition
Deichman Bjørvika has collected an unusually deep list of honors since opening: Library of the Year 2020, the Betongtavlen 2020 concrete design award, the DOGA Award for Design and Architecture, and the Norwegian Lighting Prize for indoor projects. In 2021, it was named the world's Best New Public Library by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) - competing against 32 libraries worldwide before being shortlisted among five finalists. The jury specifically praised how the building combined environmental awareness with genuine architectural ambition, rather than treating sustainability and design as separate goals.
A Name With Its Own History
The library takes its name from Carl Deichman, an 18th-century Norwegian businessman and philanthropist who bequeathed his personal collection of roughly 6,000 books to the citizens of Christiania - as Oslo was then known - in 1785. More than two centuries later, that gift became the foundation for what is now considered one of the best public libraries in the world. The building also holds a more unusual literary legacy: it's the home of the Future Library project, a century-long undertaking that seals new, unread manuscripts from authors including Margaret Atwood and David Mitchell in a dedicated room, to be opened and finally published only in 2114.
What Deichman Bjørvika Teaches
- A building as public living room. A library is no longer just a book store: cafés, studios, a cinema, and family areas make it a place people visit without a specific errand.
- Light from above. Skylights pull daylight deep into the plan, a move that works just as well in a large, deep house.
- A constraint as the concept. A small site pushed the architects upward and outward with cantilevers, and that became the building's identity.
Libraries and Public Space in Seattle
Seattle has its own landmark in the same spirit: the Seattle Central Library by OMA, opened in 2004, which also treated the library as a civic living room and organized its floors around how people actually move and browse. Both buildings show how public architecture can make a city more generous. Read more in our articles on urbanism and giving buildings a second life, and see our hospitality interior design service.
FAQ
When did Deichman Bjørvika open? On June 18, 2020.
What award did it win? In 2021 IFLA named it the world's Best New Public Library.
