Lighting Design by Halvor Naess
Pictures by Tomasz Majewski
Architect Poulsson’s vision of “The White City by the Fjord” is reborn
Magnus Poulsson designed Sandvika Herredshus in 1915, as one of the first town halls for the new nation of Norway. Construction did not begin until 1926, and was completed as it appears today in 1960.
Magnus Poulsson’s vision for Sandvika was an idea of ”the white city by the fjord”; coastal idyll meets European trends and the result is sparkling white buildings. He created a building style that was local to Sandvika, based on Italian palace architecture and stands today as some of the finest works of its time. There is thus a great neoclassical heritage in Sandvika.
When completed in 1960, Bærum Town Hall had a clean, elegant and prominent expression with its location in the cityscape, and appeared, despite its chalky white facades, subdued and adapted to its surroundings. Modern society has since added a lot of visual noise to the area, with buildings and highways that have reduced the town hall’s position in the cityscape.
We have therefore based our lighting concept on Poulsson’s vision for Sandvika as “the white city by the fjord”, and together with Bærum Municipality we have been able to return Bærum Town Hall to its original position in the cityscape. The building’s many fittings received a necessary upgrade, and were fitted with integrated LED strips that cast a beautiful trailing light along all of the building’s facades. The tower and the granite facade facing the river are illuminated with dynamically controllable luminaires, which on special occasions will highlight the town hall with colors other than white. The town hall now shines in the evening darkness with a subdued, golden color, and will appear with facade lighting adapted to the season and time of day.
In December 2025, Bærum Municipality completed the renovation of the facades of the municipal building, thereby fulfilling and continuing the architect’s vision of a sparkling white building by the fjord.
