Developing tomorrow's interior walls for the new Government Quarter

Statsbygg has great ambitions for the new government quarter and sees a potential to build more cheaply, faster and more sustainably. It was therefore looking for an innovation partner for the development of tomorrow's "smart walls". A contract is now being signed with a consortium consisting of Inventas, Vyrk and Spilka Industri.

"We are proud and very pleased to be awarded the contract. It confirms and recognises the knowledge and expertise that lies in the companies, and we look forward to carrying out the project together with Statsbygg," says Ove Pryde Pettersen, CEO of innovation company Inventas AS.

Sustainable interior walls can lower a building's environmental footprint

Norway shall reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% by 2030. Worldwide, the construction industry accounts for around 40% of emissions and thus has great potential for improvement. It is important to build smarter, and there is a need to think in new ways.

Statsbygg saw major opportunities for improvement in how it can build efficiently and how to reduce the impact on the environment. Interior walls make up a large share of the components of a building. In the new government quarter alone, approx. 50,000 sqm of interior walls are planned.

"Good ideas are developed together, which is why we have sought partners for our smart walls project," says Pål Weiby of Statsbygg. The goal of the project is to build cheaper, faster and more sustainably using industrialised building systems and local wood, with a focus on reuse in production, assembly and operation.

Innovative wall system to replace traditional stud walls

Today's non-load-bearing interior walls are usually stud walls that must be adapted on site, which results in a long construction time, and a large degree of dusty work and much material waste. The prefabricated wall system will cover the same functions, performances and needs as a traditionally built interior wall, but with intelligent built-in solutions for concealed technical installations, door environments and technical penetrations. The smart walls must be able to be moved and reused elsewhere when needs change.

"An industrialised system will be able to save society large sums of money, while at the same time significantly improving the overall environmental footprint, as well as the extensive use of wood-based materials that also enabled circular and sustainable products," says Steinar Lyseng, Marketing and Innovation Manager at Vyrk AS.

Contract worth NOK 135 million

Through the innovation partnership with Statsbygg, the consortium will develop, prototype and test solutions in iterative processes. After the solution has been tested and approved, the contract provides an option to purchase the smart interior walls at a value of up to NOK 135 million.

"We see clear parallels in this project to our recently launched façade solution Fixade. We are confident that the consortium with broad experience and expertise in product development and industrial production will come up with good solutions in the project," says Terje Bøe, CEO of AS Spilka Industri.

About Inventas AS

Inventas has been given a major boost over the past year after the employees bought out the company from giant CGI and can now point to an impressive tripling in operating profit in 2020, making it 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 including Rolls Royce, the European Space Agency and Cisco. Inventas currently consists of 140 designers and engineers with experience from more than 3,500 projects and collaborations with over 800 customers.

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 outward-opening windows. It works actively with the further development of existing products as well as the development of completely new, innovative hardware solutions for windows and doors. The company is located at Emblem in Ålesund municipality and has 60 employees. A significant proportion of its production is exported.

AS Spilka Industri had a turnover of NOK 122 million in 2020 and has set major 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. Its first investment is a very exciting new solution for the façade market in Norway, which will eventually also be available to select export markets. The company has ambitious growth plans.

About Vyrk AS

Vyrk has ambitious goals for growth in the coming years. It focuses heavily on the environmentally friendly production of finished interior and exterior panels, slats, veneered panels and glass walls. Founded in 2005, over the past three years Vyrk has acquired three Norwegian manufacturing companies and can now deliver complete interior solutions to both public and private buildings.

Vyrk currently has around 60 employees spread across four factories in Innlandet. In 2021, Vyrk had a turnover of around NOK 130 million. The potential is huge, and the goal is to reach a turnover of NOK 300 million over a three-year period.