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- Schweigaards gate 33
An Oslo office where the south façade generates the energy to run it
A façade that works — solar energy woven into the skin of the building, not added to its roof
High-performance design and green energy in a single architectural gesture
Commissioned by Rom Eiendom / Bane NOR and completed in 2019, Schweigaards gate 33 — known as S33 — set out to prove that a contemporary Oslo office building could meet its own energy demands without compromise to design. LPO Arkitekter’s answer was to make the south-facing glass façade itself the power source: not a bolt-on array, but windows that generate.
The ISSOL® Square panels integrate into the façade as a sleek square-grid pattern, indistinguishable in character from the surrounding glazing. Together with the rooftop installation, the system produces around 90,000 kWh annually — sufficient to cover the building’s cooling load entirely and reduce overall operating costs. For LPO Arkitekter, the result is architecture that earns its keep on the energy bill without asking anything of the appearance.
Bifacial, tunable and certified — performance demanded at every level
- Vertical south-facing application: bifacial cell technology specified to capture reflected light from both sides and maximise yield in a façade orientation
- Adjustable light transmission (10% to >60%) coordinated with daylighting and glare targets across different floor levels and zones
- BREEAM-NOR Excellent certification target — BIPV façade integral to achieving the required energy performance score
- Energy rating A demanded by client brief; cooling energy fully covered by on-site solar generation
- Green roofs with sedum vegetation combined with solar façade as a coherent bioclimatic envelope strategy
- Panel geometry and cell density resolved within the overall curtain wall system to maintain a unified architectural expression
Why it fits: ISSOL® Square’s bifacial cell technology is purpose-built for vertical applications: cells capture direct solar radiation on the outer face and reflected light on the inner face, maximising yield where a conventional monofacial panel would underperform. Cell spacing and transmission are tunable per panel, so each floor zone can be calibrated for daylight quality without sacrificing output. The sleek square-grid pattern reads as architecture, not as equipment — exactly what a BREEAM-NOR Excellent building on a prominent Oslo street demands.
Parameters for rapid evaluation
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application | BIPV solar façade | South-facing vertical glass façade; integrated into curtain wall system |
| ISSOL® solution | ISSOL® Square | Bifacial glass-glass laminate; monocrystalline cell matrix; cell spacing tuned per zone |
| Cell technology | Bifacial | Captures direct and reflected light; optimised for vertical orientation |
| Panel output | ~150 Wp/m² | ISSOL® Square panels; south-facing façade |
| Annual yield | ~90,000 kWh/yr | Façade + rooftop combined; covers full cooling load |
| Light transmission | 10% – >60% | Adjustable per panel zone; coordinated with daylighting strategy |
| Envelope strategy | BIPV façade + green roof | Sedum vegetation on roof; solar glazing on south elevation — integrated bioclimatic envelope |
| Architect | LPO Arkitekter | Design and integration of BIPV within curtain wall system |
| Completed | 2019 | Oslo, Norway |
“The energy transition is not hidden on distant roofs; it sits in the civic realm, understandable at a glance — a façade that generates the energy to run the building behind it.”
Schweigaards gate 33 — Oslo, 2019
A south façade that works as hard as the building it wraps
