The new HB Trapper & Stål’s HQ is a showcase of their steel manufacturing capabilities. The company who primarily manufactures steel stairs and balconies, has expanded into bespoke wall, floor, and ceiling solutions. The facilities to manufacture and assemble most parts of the building were already on-site. BIG, who collaborated with HB Trapper & Stål before on steel parts for VM Houses, the Mountain, and most recently the Marsk Tower, co-designed the project with HB Trapper & Stål, who also acted as the main contractor.
The close collaboration between designer and manufacturer allowed for bespoke steel designs that could be quickly mocked up and tested on site. This resulted in custom-made elements ranging from door handles and meeting tables to kitchen elements, railings, electric outlets, ventilation grills, and glass façade mullions.
In order to minimize both the carbon footprint and building costs, the building integrates parts of existing buildings to reduce material use, like the exterior north wall of the manufacturing building, the foundation and floor slab of the old administration building, and most of the original brick administration building. The design is a celebration of exposed structures and raw material surfaces.
Two sides of the volume are clad with weathered Corten steel plates that blend with the red brick manufacturing buildings. The other two sides are wrapped in a simple glass façade.
Inside several small new spaces together with reused buildings make up a small interior village of functional areas boxed in by a two-storey steel and glass envelope. The interior volumes subdivide the large space that provides visitors a showcase of the unique material properties of different types of steel.
