“We appreciate the commission and are proud that we can be a part of developing and realising this very special project for Asker municipality at Nedre Sem Farm. The municipality’s sustainability goals are a good fit with Veidekke’s own strategy, and we’re looking forward to reconstructing a unique and sustainable building for the future,” says district manager Gro Brathovde with Veidekke Bygg Buskerud.

Nedre Sem Farm is located at Semsvannet in Asker and currently houses a municipal work centre. The barn building has deteriorated for many years, and will be completely dismantled before a new building is erected reusing the old materials. The new building will comprise a work centre with a carpentry workshop across two floors, an institutional kitchen, its own farm store and sheltered housing. The new buildings will be around 2,000 m2 in size, with the same design as the original multi-purpose barn from around 1890.

Nedre Sem Barn will be built in accordance with Futurebuilt’s criteria set Zero, Zero T and NZEB (nearly zero energy building). Furthermore, the project is a pilot for Futurebuilt’s criteria set for the use of plastic and circular buildings that concerns the reduction of plastic products and reuse of building materials. The new build will achieve a reduction of at least 50% of CO2 in accordance with FutureZero. Nedre Sem Barn is also included as a pilot in the EU’s Circular Cities and Regions Initiative. The construction site will be emission-free through the use of electric construction machines.

The existing building will be dismantled and removed in this winter, with subsequent start of construction. The new build is scheduled for completion in first quarter of 2024. The commission is included in Veidekke’s order book for the fourth quarter of 2022.