Statsbygg has big ambitions for the new government quarter and sees potential for building cheaper, faster and more sustainable. They were therefore looking for an innovation partner for the development of tomorrow’s “smart walls”. A contract is now being entered into with a consortium consisting of Inventas, Vyrk and Spilka Industri.
Photo: Statsbygg
– We are proud and very pleased with the award of the contract. It confirms and recognizes the knowledge and competence that lies in the companies, and we look forward to carrying out the project together with Statsbygg, says Ove Pryde Pettersen, who is the general manager of the innovation company Inventas AS.
Can affect large parts of the building’s environmental footprint
Norway will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030. Globally, the construction industry accounts for around 40% of greenhouse gas emissions and in other words has great potential for improvement. It’s about building smarter, and there is a need for new thinking.
Statsbygg saw great opportunities for improvement in how they can build efficiently and how to reduce the impact on the environment. Interior walls make up a large proportion of the components in a building, and in the project with a new government quarter, approx. 50,000 sqm interior walls.
– Good ideas are developed together, therefore we have sought partners for the project on smart walls, says Pål Weiby in Statsbygg. The goal of the project is to build cheaper, faster and more sustainable using industrialized building systems, local wood and with a focus on reuse in production, assembly and operation.
Today’s non-load-bearing interior walls are usually upright walls that must be adapted on site, which results in a long construction time, and a large degree of dusty work and high material waste. The prefabricated wall system will take care of the same functions, services and needs as a traditionally built interior wall, but with intelligent built-in solutions for hidden technical installations, door environments and technical penetrations. The smart walls must be able to be moved and reused elsewhere when needs change.
– An industrialized system will be able to save society large sums, at the same time as it will significantly improve the overall environmental footprint, the same applies to extensive use of wood-based materials that also enable circular and sustainable products, says Steinar Lyseng, marketing and innovation leader in Vyrk AS.
Value of NOK 135 million
Through the innovation partnership with Statsbygg, the consortium will develop, prototype and test the solutions in iterative processes. After the solution has been tested and approved, the contract provides an option to purchase the smart interior walls to a value of up to NOK 135 million.
– We see clear parallels in this project to our recently launched facade solution Fixade. We are confident that the consortium with broad combined experience and expertise in product development and industrial production will arrive at good solutions in the project, says Terje Bøe who is CEO of AS Spilka Industri.
Foto: Team Urbis/Statsbygg
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About Inventas AS
Inventas has received a higher voice in the last year after the employees bought out the company from the giant CGI and was able to point to an impressive tripling in operating profit in 2020 and thus become Norway’s largest service provider in innovation and product development.
Inventas has worked for almost 25 years to solve technical problems and product challenges with customers such as Rolls Royce, European Space Agency and Cisco. Inventas currently consists of 140 designers and engineers with experience from over 3,500 projects and collaborations with over 800 customers.
About Vyrk AS
Vyrk has high goals for growth in the coming years, and focuses heavily on environmentally friendly production of finished interior and exterior panels, pillars, veneered boards and glass walls. Vyrk started up in 2005, and over the past three years has acquired three Norwegian production companies and can now deliver complete interior solutions for both public and private buildings.
Vyrk currently has around 60 employees in 4 factories spread across the Inland. In 2021, Vyrk had a turnover of around NOK 130 million, the potential is large and the goal is a turnover of NOK 300 million over a three-year period.
About AS Spilka Industri
AS Spilka Industri was established in 1933, and is one of the world’s leading suppliers of system solutions for the production of external windows. We work actively with further development of existing products as well as development of completely new, innovative fitting solutions for windows and doors. The company is located at Emblem in Ålesund municipality, has 60 employees and a significant proportion of production is exported.
AS Spilka Industri had sales of 122 mNOK in 2020 and has set significant growth targets for the coming years. A part of this strategy is the establishment of the subsidiary Spilka Building Solutions AS, which develops smart and sustainable building systems for the construction industry. The first investment is a new and very exciting solution for the façade market in Norway and eventually also towards selected export markets. There are ambitious growth plans for the company.
