KA-bygningen / Kassa nova 1960 / 2022

The KA Building was named after the function it had when it was constructed. It was built in 1960 as a laboratory building for chemical analysis (KA). The laboratory was put into use in January 1961.

KA-bygningen

The original KA bygningen has three floors plus a basement and a gross area of around 2000 square meters as of 2017. The building was designed by architects Kjell Ullring and Henning Zernichow. It has a flat roof, concrete construction, and a facade of yellow brick.

Tore Krogstad is a chemistry professor and has been at NMBU for a long time. He has kept notes and writings and has an exceptionally good memory. He explains that the reason researchers wanted a consolidated laboratory building at NLH was that the need for both inorganic analyses, feed analyses, and pesticide analyses had increased, and researchers saw that this would become even more important in the future. Not least, they saw that the number of types of analyses and parameters would increase. Additionally, the laboratories in use were established in unsuitable premises.

Until the 1950s, the laboratory had a nomadic existence. It was first located in the basement of Tivoli. After 1900, a laboratory was established in the Urbygningen, and then it was moved to Tårnbygningen in 1932. A committee was established, which concluded that a central analysis laboratory needed to be built to consolidate everything in suitable premises. This was step two in the laboratory development plan. Step one was Jordfagsbygningen, which was to house the laboratory for soil analyses that had been established by the State Soil Survey.

Analyses were considered very important in both research and education and were established as early as when the Higher Agricultural School in Ås started in 1859. The analysis work before 1960 was not always carried out under strict HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) requirements, and even though researchers worked with acid fumes and solvents, fume hoods and ventilation were often inadequate.

Financing of the Building

The KA building had a built-up area of 480 square meters and a total floor area of 1930 square meters. The expenses for the construction of the building were 1.96 million kroner, in addition to equipment costs of 210,000 kroner. The costs were covered by grants from the Norwegian Agricultural Science Research Council with 1.35 million kroner and with 0.82 million kroner directly from the state budget.

from KA-bygningen to Kassa nova (2022)

To accommodate the activities that the Faculty of Landscape and Society (LANDSAM) required, the project included the rehabilitation of the facades and roof of the existing KA building and an extension of approximately 1600 square meters. Funds were applied for from the Ministry of Education’s (KD) allocation for ‘free upgrade funds,’ and NMBU received an approval for 30 million kroner. The entire project amounted to just over 100 million kroner.

Architect Odd Øverdahl, who influenced the design, described the architectural expression as follows:

"The KA-building consists of three main elements: the existing building, the studio building with drawing rooms, and a connecting common area. The three parts form a harmonious whole with a kinship in materiality and rhythm, yet appear as three distinct units

The continuous cladding is made of heartwood pine boards. There are vertical posts between the windows and horizontal ones over the deck edge and cornice. Variations in window formats and proportions clearly, but quietly, mark the difference between new and old. The existing KA-building retains its expression but gets a new complete facade. The window openings are made larger, with a sill height at desk level and a horizontal bar marking the original sill height. The studio building takes on the character of an atelier with large window surfaces, low sills for good contact with the landscape, and ample daylight. The connecting common area cuts into the studio building and partially wraps around the existing building. This creates a completely new entrance situation and a vestibule with a scale that suits the expanded program. The house here gets a central gathering point with a staircase amphitheater that can also be used for teaching and meetings."

Throughout the project, efforts were made to ensure environmentally friendly and sustainable work and solutions as much as possible. By choosing flexible solutions and incorporating modern teaching methods, they managed to reduce the area by 779 square meters compared to the original room and function plan. The building consists of 75 office workspaces and 200 student workspaces.

The implementation phase started in the fall of 2021. The project was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, with rising prices and long delivery times, which resulted in the project being somewhat more expensive than planned.